Love and Death
by Avengingdemigod
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are pulled together when Percy saves her life after she nearly falls to death from a roller coaster. AU. All human.
1. Beginning of Everything

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, not any of the characters :(**

Annabeth's heart raced, sending tremors throughout her body. _This is it_ , she thought. _This must be how it ends_. Strangely, she felt peaceful. She was sad that she'd never see her family, or anyone she loved ever again, but in her mind, she was no longer terrified of dying the way she had been her whole life.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers and her body hit the side of the car painfully. Luckily, the impact didn't loosen her hold. She looked up, her gray eyes meeting a pair of bright green eyes, the eyes of the person who had just saved her life.

It was supposed to be a fun day at a carnival. Annabeth had met with her best friend, Piper, Piper's boyfriend, Jason, and Jason's friend, a guy named Percy. Annabeth was single (had been ever since Luke broke her heart), and Annabeth knew at once that Piper was trying to set her up. But, as everyone soon found out, Annabeth and Percy were like fire and ice; complete opposites. And not necessarily in a good way. They argued ( _mostly_ good-naturedly) about everything- what rides to go on, whether cotton candy was better than caramel apples (Annabeth thought cotton candy, Percy argued for caramel apples), even what TV shows were the best. Annabeth started calling him Seaweed Brain, because of his love of everything to do with the beach (and the fact that he didn't seem all that bright) and Percy, unable to come up with a better nickname, called her Wise Girl (although honestly, both of them could tell that Annabeth didn't really mind that name).

Meanwhile, Piper and Jason were walking languidly behind them, doing all the couple-y things and smiling and giggling at each other. Pretty much the only thing Annabeth and Percy agreed on was that they were cute but insufferable. Piper and Jason didn't seem to mind though, lost in their own world.

The last ride they were going to go on was a huge rollercoaster. They'd been at the carnival for the whole day, and the sun was starting to set. Piper and Jason went on a nice, romantic Ferris Wheel ride, staring into each others' eyes as the sun cast the last rays of sunshine and turned the sky a brilliant rainbow of colors.

But Percy and Annabeth decided to take the more awesome route and go on a rollercoaster. It was the biggest one in the park, and it went upside down and all the way around and had a huge drop at the end. They were stuck in a car together, both of them screaming their heads off and trying to take out the hearing of the other. Until the final drop.

Annabeth's "seatbelt" had been kind of loose, but she'd brushed it off, deciding it was fine and probably just because the last person had been bigger than her. Turns out, it was loose because it was broken.

She barely had time to scream at the end of the drop when suddenly, the wind whipped her up and out of her seat. She was flung backward, hitting her arm against the back of the seat (ouch, that crunch) and then lifted out and over the car wall.

That was when she would've died….but then Percy's hand caught her. The car was stopped, probably by the person operating the ride, which was a relief, because otherwise, her hand would've fallen from Percy's grasp and she would've fallen to her death. But it stopped, and for a second, she hung there, suspended in the open air, gasping for breath and trying to recover.

Then she heard a wheeze. She looked up and saw Percy's face, twisted up in concentration. She realized then that his arms weren't enough to fight the gravity without her help, despite his muscles (not that she'd noticed them, of course). Although he was strong, even he couldn't keep her from falling forever. The thought made her breath catch and her brain to start panicking again. That moment of peace had disappeared, and all she wanted was to live.

"Climb up," Percy half shouted to her. "I can't hold onto you forever."

Already, their hands had started to slip apart. Holding her breath and trying not to look down, Annabeth grabbed Percy's other hand and the edge of the cart. By Percy's pulling and her pushing, they both managed to get her back onto the car. Once inside, she collapsed on the floor onto Percy, both of them panting heavily. Outside of their car, she heard loud clapping and cheers from the other relieved passengers.

She felt tears come into her eyes. She'd been _this close_ to dying, and she thanked whatever gods there were that Percy had been there when she needed it. Normally, she was a pretty tough girl, but the realization overwhelmed her.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into his chest. "I don't know-what might've-just, thank you."

"Hey, no problem," Percy said, trying to sound nonchalant, but Annabeth could feel his heart beating wildly, and his voice was shaking just a bit. "I save damsels in distress all the time."

She hit him on the shoulder, although without actually trying to hurt him. "I'm not a damsel in distress," she mumbled.

Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She wanted to stay here, on top of Percy, not moving at all. But she rolled over Percy, sitting up slowly and groaning. Percy got up too, and for a moment, they just looked at each other.

Then they noticed the clapping and cheering around them. The other people on the ride were enthusiastically showing their relief that nothing bad had happened. There were several people who had their phones out, filming the whole thing.

Annabeth and Percy laughed together. "Ready?" asked Percy, holding his hand out for Annabeth and standing up. Annabeth stared at the outstretched hand. _The hand that saved my life,_ she thought, smiling.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Annabeth replied, taking his hand. "But after this, I don't think I'm ever going on any roller coasters again."

"Just stay with me and you'll be fine," Percy said with a grin. Annabeth groaned and shook her head.

"Back to being a Seaweed Brain, I see," she noted dryly.

Percy shrugged. He, like Annabeth, couldn't stop smiling. "As long as you're okay," he said.

The ride started again, although much more slowly. The rest of the roller coaster was smooth and steady. The cars stopped at the end and Annabeth and Percy got out, amidst cheers from everyone. Wobbling just a bit, Percy and Annabeth leaned on each other while cameras were snapped and people came up to congratulate them on their safe return. The manager of the park came up, filling Annabeth's ears with apologies and assurances that this would never happen again. As compensation (and probably because he was afraid of getting sued), he promised free tickets if either of them ever came back.

Then Piper came running up, Jason right behind her. Her eyes were blazing and she looked furious. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!" she shouted to Annabeth. "You freaked me out. Here we were, waiting for you to come down, and we saw you dangling from the edge, seconds away from falling and-and- dying!" Piper hugged Annabeth so fiercely that she nearly picked Annabeth up, no small feat, considering Piper was several inches shorter.

"Easy," Annabeth squeaked out. "It's okay, I'm fine now. Trust me, it's not like I wanted to or had a choice about nearly falling to death."

Piper squeezed her even tighter. "I know, I know," she said, calming down a bit. "It's just, I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

Annabeth smiled, tears glistening in her eyes again. She couldn't imagine a life without her best friend either. She hugged Piper back just as tightly. "I know," she murmured.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason and Percy clapping each other on the back. Jason was usually easygoing and laid back, but even he seemed a little emotional.

Just then, she noticed the pain in her ribs and arm. Up until then, adrenaline had probably kept her from noticing it, but it hit her full force then. She winced, Piper still hugging her.

"Uh, Piper," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "I think I might have broken my ribs."

At that, the pain overwhelmed her and she blacked out.


	2. Afterwards

**Thanks to everyone who favorited and reviewed and followed this story! You all made me so happy!**

 **This chapter is kinda filler-ish, mostly just fluffy. There's also some stuff about injuries. I really had no idea what the procedures are for broken ribs, so I made some stuff up. It's probably mostly inaccurate, so if you want me to fix anything, please review and tell me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, although I wish I did :(**

Annabeth woke up to dead silence. Her eyelids felt heavy and crusty, like she'd been asleep for a while, and she groaned when she was painfully reminded of her ribs and arm, which was already in a cast. She cracked her eyes open and was greeted by the sight of Percy, sitting in a chair dozing off.

"You drool when you sleep," she rasped. She noticed how dry and parched her throat and tongue felt.

Percy jumped up as soon as he heard her. "Oh man, you're awake! How do you feel? Oh god, Piper's going to kill me," he babbled.

Annabeth felt her lips curve up into a tired smile. "I feel pretty bad, especially with my ribs and arm," she answered. "Where's Piper?"

"Well, your ribs are cracked, and your arm has a fracture," he said, sitting back down. "And I finally convinced Piper that I'd watch over you and make sure nothing happened, after she'd been watching for a whole day. Which is why she's going to kill me when she finds out the moment she stepped out, you woke up. Couldn't you have woken up an hour earlier?" he said, half joking.

Annabeth didn't hear that last part. "A day?" she repeated. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Um, about…" Percy looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall. "Yeah, nearly two days, including the carnival day."

"Wow," Annabeth murmured thoughtfully. "I've never slept that long before."

Percy shrugged. "Yeah, well, the doctors said you were just healing and that we shouldn't wake you up."

Annabeth noticed her surroundings then. She was in a hospital, judging by the white walls and bed, and the smell of disinfectant. "How did I get here? Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in a hospital. I, um, well, we drove you here when you fainted. I kinda fainted too," he added, turning red. "Overexertion or something like that. I was only in bed for a day, though. They just checked me over. You're supposed to stay here for another day before they'll let you go."

"Another day?" Annabeth groaned. "Why? I can probably walk, and I don't like hospitals much anyways."

She tried to sit up, and found, to her relief, that she could. She hoisted herself up and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Uh, I don't think you're supposed to do that," Percy warned, glancing nervously at the door. "You literally almost fell to death and cracked your ribs and broke your arm. Are you sure you want to try to walk?"

Annabeth waved him off. She could do this. She stood up, swaying a little at the pain in her side. Percy rushed to her side, but thankfully, didn't try to hold her. Annabeth appreciated that. She grimaced, then took a step forward.

"See?" she said. "I got this. My legs don't hurt." Percy looked her up and down nervously, but she did seem fine.

"Well, I guess," he replied reluctantly. "That's still kinda crazy." He shadowed her, just in case she collapsed. But she just walked circles around the room, seeming completely fine.

Just then, the doctor walked in. "Hello," she greeted Annabeth, somewhat surprised to see her walking. "My name is Dr. Hygenia. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, honestly," Annabeth replied. "Except for some pain in my side and arm, I don't feel bad at all."

"Hmm," the doctor said. "Well, let me check up on everything. Maybe you'll be able to go home today." She turned to Percy. "I'm sorry, boyfriends aren't allowed to visit while she's being looked at. You'll have to wait in the waiting room outside."

Percy immediately turned red. "I'm not-I mean, we're not-um, well whatever," he stuttered. He backed out of the room and turned around, heading down the corridor.

"The waiting room is the other way," the doctor called after him. Percy turned around.

"What?" he asked.

Annabeth hid a smile. He was cute when he was confused. "Other way, Seaweed Brain," she told him.

If possible, Percy turned even redder, and started the other way. Both the doctor and Annabeth smiled.

"Now," the doctor said briskly. "We'll look at your side first. Your ribs have cracked, and we need to check for any internal bleeding. I'm guessing there probably isn't, considering you don't seem to be in all that much pain."

She pulled up the side of the hospital gown, and Annabeth gasped. There was a very ugly, dark purple bruise there covering most of her left side. That must've been from when she hit the side of the car when Percy grabbed onto her and stopped her fall.

Dr. Hygenia didn't seem all that surprised. She prodded it, eliciting another gasp and a wince from Annabeth. It _hurt_.

"We'll get an X-ray to check, but it looks like you'll be fine," the doctor said with a smile, letting Annabeth's hospital gown fall back down, covering the bruise again. "If you can walk now, then we'll just come this way," guiding Annabeth out of the room, "and we'll get you in and out. You'll probably need quite a few painkillers, but if it all works out, you'll be discharged by today"

"Thank you," Annabeth said warmly. "That would be great."

After the X-ray, Dr. Hygenia had to go through some other procedures and gave Annabeth painkillers. But finally, in a couple hours, she changed back into regular clothes and was let out of the hospital.

Percy jumped up out of the waiting room chairs when he saw her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Did they let you out?"

"Yeah," Annabeth replied. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "This has been kinda crazy."

When she opened them, Percy was right in front of her. "Okay," he said slowly. "Well, I haven't exactly told Piper yet that you're good. Do you want me to call her now?"

"No, I can...oh wait, where's my phone?" Annabeth asked.

"Piper has it," he said. "She took it because she wanted to tell your parents about everything that happened and all that."

"Like they'll actually care," Annabeth muttered under her breath, her expression darkening at the mention of her parents.

Percy looked surprised. "You don't have a good relationship with your parents?"

Annabeth shook her head. Then, realizing they were still in the waiting room, she pulled him out the door. "Come on, let's get something to eat. I'm starving, and we can call Piper and Jason."  
"Okay," Percy said reluctantly. "Here, use my phone."

He handed it over to her, and she took it. Raising her eyebrow, she pointed to the phone case. "Interesting case you have here. Nemo, right?"

Percy blushed. "It's a great movie," he defended. "The fish is cute, isn't he?"

Annabeth just rolled her eyes, then punched Piper's number in. She didn't have to wait long before Piper picked up.

"Percy? Is that you? Is Annabeth with you? Is she awake? Is everything okay? Oh, I knew I should've stayed." Piper's somewhat frantic voice filled Annabeth's ear.

"This is Annabeth, not Percy," Annabeth replied, laughing a little. "Everything's okay, I just got discharged, and I'm starving. I need to eat."  
"You mean, more than you usually do. Are you okay? How does everything feel?" Piper had calmed a bit, enough to tease Annabeth about how much she ate, like normal.

"Everything's fine, Pipes. I just really, really, really need to eat," Annabeth answered. "Can we meet at the diner?"

"Of course," Piper said. "We'll meet you there in about 15 minutes."

"Great," Annabeth said, sighing in relief. "God, I'm hungry. See you then."

Annabeth hung up and gave Percy back his phone. "Do you have a car?" she asked. "Can you drive me to this diner?"

"Sure," he said. "Here, it's this way."  
They walked out into the parking lot, towards a Prius. "Here we are," Percy said, opening her door for her.

Annabeth smiled. "How chivalrous of you," she teased. "Thanks."

Percy went to the other side and got in. "So, do you know where to go?" He asked.

"Yeah," Annabeth said confidently. "Okay, turn here," she said, motioning to the left. "And here…"

The way to the diner, luckily, didn't have much traffic, so they were able to get there in 15 minutes. They entered, coincidentally at the same time as Piper and Jason got there.

"Hey," Annabeth said to Piper, as Piper ran up to hug her. "Oof, not so hard, my ribs are broken."

"Oh!" Piper exclaimed, letting go immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Annabeth said easily, brushing her off. Piper's eyes narrowed.

"Honestly?" she asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Considering I almost fell to death, yeah." But she knew the answer wasn't enough; Piper would pounce on her later.

They went into the diner, Annabeth breathing a sigh of relief at just being there. It was like coming home. Piper and she had been going to this diner for years, ever since they had become best friends when they were 10, and the owner knew them well. Just then, he came out, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Annabeth!" Chiron greeted, opening up his arms for her. "I saw you on the news! Are you alright?"

Annabeth held back a groan. "We were on the news?" she asked weakly, accepting his hug.

"Yes," Mr. Chiron said, nodding his head. "And you must be the young man who saved her," he said to Percy.

"That's me," Percy said, shaking his hand.

"Wonderful to meet you. I'm Chiron Brunner, but you can just call me Chiron. Thank you so much for saving our Annabeth."

Uh oh. Chiron was looking a little too happy to see Percy. Chiron usually wasn't approving of the boys Annabeth introduced to him, always saying they hadn't done anything to be worthy of her. It was sweet, and Annabeth loved Chiron for acting as the dad she'd never really had. But since she and Percy weren't even dating….well, she hoped he didn't think she'd finally found someone. _But you wish you were dating,_ a tiny voice at the back of her head said.

The four of them found a table, and Annabeth ordered the biggest thing on the menu: a huge stack of pancakes as big as her head and covered in lots of butter and syrup, just the way she liked it. Percy ordered a hamburger, and Piper and Jason shared a milkshake, saying that they had already eaten.

"So," Piper started. "Where did you get injured?"

"My arm," Annabeth said, pointing to the cast. "Hey, anyone have a pen to sign it?"

She was hoping that she could distract Piper from her ribs, because she'd probably freak. Ever since they had met, Piper had always been queasy about injuries, especially big ones.

"Ooh, I've got one," Percy said immediately, pulling one from his pocket. "Where should I sign?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Um, anywhere I guess. I don't care."

He wrote his name in big capital letters at the top of the cast, so that she'd see it whenever she looked at her cast. Then he drew what was probably supposed to be Nemo underneath.

"Come on man, save some room for the rest of us," Jason complained good naturedly. "I want to sign too."

As everyone signed, even Chiron, Annabeth ate her pancakes contentedly. This was what she would've missed if she had fallen.


	3. Re-adjustment

**So sorry that I haven't posted, I was on vacation. Thanks so much for all the support, it means a ton!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, those all belong to Rick Riordan :(**

The next day, everyone had to leave. The carnival had only been over a long weekend, and despite how shaken up Annabeth still kinda was, school was still going on, and Annabeth was too conscientious (or nerdy, as Piper liked to say), to miss it when she felt mostly physically okay. As long as she had her painkillers, she'd be fine. Piper went to a school close to her, but Percy actually lived all the way in New York, somewhat far from the Pennsylvania. Jason, Piper's high school sweetheart, went to a different college also in Pennsylvania, although it was farther away.

Her best friend and "sister", Thalia Grace (somewhat coincidentally also Jason's sister) came to her dorm and they had a "party" to celebrate the fact that Annabeth was still alive, and a couple of her other college friends came over. It was fun, but it was over quickly. Despite even death, finals stopped for no one, and if Annabeth wanted to do well, she had to focus.

Unsurprisingly, other than a perfunctory phone call (where Annabeth gritted her teeth through the fake, "Oh, we're _so_ happy nothing happened," from her stepmom, her dad's absentminded "Yes, oh, Annabeth, you were on a roller coaster, that's nice, how was it?", and her stepbrothers' "You were on a roller coaster and almost died? Cool, I wish I could've seen that!"), her "family" didn't bother coming over to see if she was actually okay, despite living only a couple hours away.

Her real mom might've been worried if she'd seen the news or if she actually bothered to ever check on Annabeth, but that was too much to hope for. When she was there, Annabeth's mom was the best ever, and somehow always managed to make Annabeth forgive her for everything she'd done. But the last time Annabeth had heard from her, Athena Chase was living the dream in Hollywood with some new famous actor that was about to premier some big shot movie, probably vacationing in the Bermudas, completely ignorant to what happened to her own daughter. It was like a Cinderella story without the prince: absent mom, harsh stepmom, annoying stepsiblings, clueless father. But of course, Annabeth wasn't bitter at all or anything. She'd been foolish to hope for the smallest moment that an accident like the one at the carnival could change anything with her parents and "family" at all.

The only real family she'd had was Thalia and Luke, and later Chiron and Piper. Of course, things with Luke were no longer warm and fuzzy, since their bad breakup, but she kept in touch with Thalia, who had been the only person and friend she'd had that she could trust completely from when she was little, and Chiron was and always would be her father figure. And Piper, of course, was another of her "sisters" in her real family.

Thalia and Piper were the only ones who really kept Annabeth sane in this world. Without them, life would seriously suck. The memories and inside jokes the three of them had….they were the kinds of things that she'd keep forever. Sometimes, when everyone was busy and she hadn't seen anyone in a while, she'd reflect on the times they'd had. The time Thalia introduced Jason to Piper after they'd found each other (Jason had been given up for adoption when Thalia was little) and they couldn't stop staring at each other….and they got together pretty quickly after that. Ever since then, Jiper been pretty much inseparable.

The several times one of them would get hit on and leered at. Sometimes Annabeth felt a little sorry for those boys (and a couple of girls). Occasionally drinks were thrown by Piper or Annabeth. Thalia would sometimes go a little further with slapping and kicking (only when they didn't seem to be able to give up….usually), and there was almost always plenty of creative language and evil eyes. Thalia especially was good at giving a patented _I'm not interested_ look.

There were some pretty good times (driving all over town at 2 in the morning to satisfy an intense ice cream craving, getting mad at one of Piper's exes and throwing eggs onto his house, going all out for Halloween parties and costumes at each other's houses), some embarrassing times that they'd never speak about (that one time Thalia got drunk and was dared to jump up on the table and start dancing to a bubblegum pop song that she'd usually never stand to listen to, let alone dance to-Annabeth still had that video on her phone).

And even when they fought and argued like real sisters, they'd always managed to come back to each other. Nothing had broken them yet. They usually started to miss each other, then they'd come crying together and apologizing and someone would break out the ice cream and suddenly whatever they'd been fighting about wouldn't matter so much anymore. They stuck together through pretty much everything: Piper and Jason dating, Annabeth's mom problems, all of them moving farther away.

But now everyone had left for the real world, and Annabeth was a bit...stuck. Nothing fun or exciting happened to her anymore, it felt like. She went through the everyday, monotone, regular exercises, but she wasn't truly happy. Everything seemed to be tinged just a bit gray. Not that she was depressed, she definitely wasn't. But some days, she'd wake up and wonder nothing ever seemed golden anymore. Maybe it was just from Luke.

When Annabeth and Luke had been together, and Thalia was there all the time (not busy with work and school), that had been the best time of her life. She'd always been excited then, to see her boyfriend. And school had been more fun. She'd had more friends, and the homework was easier. College was great-she got to study whatever she wanted, and she could do pretty much anything-but something was missing now, that had disappeared without her realizing it. Everyone else around her seemed to feel things more-happier, sadder, angrier-something Annabeth realized she just couldn't muster up. In fact, the events of that one weekend had made her feel more in those few days that she'd felt in a long time. And somehow, she kinda missed that.

But Annabeth put that all in a little corner in her brain and focused on more important things-like how the heck she was supposed to get an A in this class if the teacher never _taught_ anything that she tested them on. Or how she was supposed to survive on the measly amount of money she had saved up and the money she earned for another month without ballooning up like a beach ball from fat intake (and somehow also save for that new computer she really needed). She went back to regular, mundane _school_ things and told herself she was perfectly content with that, and stopped thinking about that one weekend.

That was what she'd always taught herself to do. When something was bothering her, or something bad happened, she compartmentalize and keep from focusing on it. Just bottled it up and never let it show the things that hurt her. Like the snide comments she got in high school about not having a life, and the hidden barbs from her stepmother. The times her mother ran away from the family, especially the last time. Or the nasty breakups she had a couple times. Or a near death experience. She tucked it all away, only letting it out to a few people a few times. She was good at it. She'd done it her whole life. And so she didn't _exactly_ forget falling off a roller coaster, but she pushed it down and ignored the little voice that still freaked out about it sometimes.

Life went on, no matter what happened. Annabeth saw Piper a few more times, hung out with some nice girls in her Classics class, talked to Thalia, and pretty much kept going like nothing had happened. Percy became a barely there, distant figment in her brain that she'd think about sometimes when it was dark and quiet and she couldn't sleep, and part of her would wonder, _what if? What if I saw him again? What if we had something more?_

And then in the morning she'd laugh at herself for those silly thoughts; really, he had saved her life, and she was incredibly grateful, but they'd had nothing more than that. They'd argued the whole time before the accident. The huge lettering and Nemo drawing on her cast made it hard to completely forget him. Part of her wistfully wondered if that was the point. But he probably never thought about her as more than a girl who was incredibly clumsy. And maybe if he was that kind of guy, he thought of her as a girl who'd needed saving and patted himself on the back for doing a good deed. Maybe he told his friends or girlfriend about her as a story to make himself seem better. Although Annabeth was a pretty good judge of character, and he hadn't seemed like that. He probably did have a girlfriend, whom he saw every day and was probably really close to. Not someone who he met for a day. But the point was, she told herself firmly, that she had no idea. They barely knew each other, they met once, she didn't even have his number, and that was that.

At least, that was what she thought..

Little did she know that greater forces were behind her future, which had been irrevocably twisted by that roller coaster ride. Powerful forces not to be reckoned with, such as the universe, fate, destiny…..and one very determined Piper.


	4. Piper's plans

**Thanks again to everyone for favoriting, following, and reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters**

Piper and Thalia had known Annabeth Chase for a very long time. They had seen her at her worst and her best, and usually knew exactly what she was feeling. So Annabeth's detachment and lethargy didn't go quite as unnoticed as she'd thought. Piper especially was good at reading emotions and dealing with them. And what she realized, same as Annabeth, was that the most alive Annabeth had seemed was at that one weekend at the carnival, where Percy had saved Annabeth's life.

Piper had initially been a little wary of Percy. He was Jason's best friend, but she'd never met him before the carnival, and she'd heard about some of his "adventures": how he'd been accused of theft and crashed his stepdad's car (although Jason assured her that both were false) and he was something of a rule flaunter. She did realize that made him the opposite of Annabeth, so she thought, _Well, opposites do attract_ , and invited Annabeth to come too.

She knew Annabeth would figure out immediately that she was being set up. And Annabeth usually hated being in the middle of Piper's matchmaking schemes (she'd been in them several times, most of them ending up badly). But this time, Piper didn't see as many evil eyes or loud sighs or any of the usual signs that Annabeth was annoyed. True, it could've been because she was arguing with Percy too much to be frustrated with Piper, but Piper detected something in Annabeth that somehow lit up with Percy.

Sometimes Annabeth was the quiet, cool one of their group, who followed the rules and went with the flow. But occasionally, like when she talked politics or got involved in a feminism debate, or she was talking to someone she liked, about something she enjoyed, she had this spark in her eyes and she seemed so much more alive. She'd start using hand gestures and talking more about the subject, getting more involved. And Piper saw that with Percy. She was almost surprised at how happy Annabeth seemed. She hadn't seen Annabeth that way since….well, since Luke, honestly.

She even blushed when Percy won a stuffed animal and gave it to her (Piper got so excited at that, and even Jason smiled). Normally, she'd take it and make a sarcastic comment about sexism and how she wasn't some damsel in distress who couldn't win her own stuffed animal. But maybe it was because Percy had said something along the lines of, "Well, you probably could get a bigger one than me, but my mom said I had to be a gentleman." Which was exactly something that Annabeth liked to hear. Later, unfortunately, the stuffed animal was lost in the confusion after the roller coaster, and Piper wasn't even sure if Annabeth remembered it. But Piper certainly did.

Which was why, when Jason mentioned that he was going up to New York for winter break, months after the carnival, to see Percy and do some research for a paper he was writing, Piper jumped at the chance and asked if she and Annabeth could come with.

Jason had told her (and probably regretted it after), that he'd never seen Percy that into a girl, except maybe this one girl Rachel, but even for her, Percy was a little more reserved.

"Usually, he's kinda shy and less comfortable around girls, especially ones he doesn't know well," Jason told Piper. "It took him year to figure out that this girl Calypso liked him, and by then, she'd already gotten over it and moved onto Leo. And he never argues with girls like that. I've never seen him that way, and I've known him for a long time."

This all only added fuel to Piper's theory and conviction that Percy and Annabeth were meant to be together. The fact that they had met only once was no matter; Percy had saved Annabeth's life. That alone was enough for both her and Chiron to give approval. Thalia hadn't met Percy yet, but anything would be better than Annabeth's last disaster: a guy named Ethan Nakamura. Their relationship had been short and definitely not sweet-Ethan ended up standing her up on several dates and later cheated on her with a girl from their college. In the end, he'd been remorseful about it, and apologized, but Annabeth hadn't forgiven him totally and they didn't talk again.

So Percy would be way better. Anyways, if he was Jason's best friend, and Annabeth was her best friend, they could totally double date...that would be the cutest thing ever. Now, all Piper had to do was convince Annabeth to come to New York.

"I don't know," Annabeth said uneasily when Piper asked her. "I've got schoolwork, you know. I can't just go off to New York for break. Plus, I've got work, I don't know if I can just leave the coffee shop. Winter is the busiest time." Annabeth usually worked at Starbucks, so that she wasn't completely broke and didn't have to resort all the time to the cheaper but super unhealthy cafeteria meals.

"Come on," Piper begged, making puppy dog faces at her. "You haven't traveled anywhere in such a long time. This'll be an actual break for you. It'll be fun-you and me in the city, seeing the sights. Besides, you've never been to New York. New experiences and all that, right?"

Piper didn't want to mention that they were also going to see Percy, because knowing Annabeth, that would scare her off and she'd find some excuse to not go. Annabeth always acted weirdly the few times Piper brought the subject of Percy up. Hopefully for Piper, Annabeth didn't remember that Percy lived in New York.

Annabeth sighed. "I'll see," she said, smiling reluctantly. "Honestly, I don't know for sure though. I might not be able to."

Piper waved a hand. "You'll figure out something," she said airily. "It'll be fine, everyone loves you."

Inside, she was squealing with excitement. Percy and Annabeth would be together, she'd be with her amazing boyfriend, they'd be double dating in New York! It was a dream come true.

Annabeth was excited, too. She'd never been to New York, but she'd always wanted to go. There just never seemed to be the right time, or none of her friends would go. And she wasn't quite bold enough to explore the big city on her own. She probably could, but she wouldn't enjoy it as much. There was also that tiny voice in the back of her head again, reminding her that she knew someone in New York, someone with dark hair and bright green eyes and tanned arms that saved her life….

Luckily, she wasn't assigned mountains of homework for the break, and her manager said it was okay to take a couple days off. So the first day of winter break found Annabeth frantically packing everything for the trip. She probably should've started the night before, but the pull of the Harry Potter books had been too much. She'd ended up finishing The Deathly Hallows at 1 a.m., and then promptly fell asleep.

"I need lots of sweaters," she muttered to herself. "What am I forgetting? Oh, toothbrush, pajamas." She scavenged through her closet. Then she packed a couple books, socks, and was pretty much ready to go, just as her phone buzzed with a text from Piper saying, "I'm coming up."

She let her in. Piper's cheeks were red from the cold and she was shivering, but she looked happy and excited, nonetheless. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Um, I think so," Annabeth answered, looking down at her suitcase.

Then Piper noticed her open closet. "You're not bringing that?" she asked, pointing at the one dress Annabeth owned: a shimmery spaghetti strapped dress with a gray bodice and flowing, long sea green skirt.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It's winter, Pipes. I'll be way too cold."

Piper shook her head. "I've got a cardigan you can borrow that'll probably look awesome. Besides, I think we're going to some fancy place tomorrow. You'll be totally underdressed in jeans."

Annabeth sighed. "Well, I guess," she said, grabbing the dress and opening her suitcase. Normally, she'd protest more, but they had to leave quickly and the dress really was beautiful and she'd only worn it once. If she had an occasion to wear it, she wouldn't mind. "Do you know where?"

Piper shrugged. "No, I think Jason is planning everything for this trip. He's the one who wanted to go." _And Percy,_ she added in her head, but Annabeth didn't need to know that. Piper didn't want to scare her off at the very last minute.

They went down, where Jason's red car was idling on the sidewalk. Annabeth heaved her suitcase into the trunk, then went over to the backseat where she always sat. Jason was in the driver's seat, and he pulled away from the curb as Piper slid into the passenger seat next to him. Annabeth had gone on a couple road trips with them before, so she knew where everything would be. Piper and Jason in the front, Annabeth and other guests in the back. Piper was always DJ, and Annabeth and sometimes Thalia would be responsible for snacks. Other than that, Annabeth usually just read and checked her phone.

They drove for a while, stopping only for gas and Burger King. Annabeth managed to finish reading a book for psych class and she texted Thalia that she wouldn't be at college for break. She fell asleep after a while, lulled into a doze by the heat and steady purr of the engine. She was finally shaken awake by Piper's trademark rhythmic tapping.

"Wha-," she said blearily, still sleepy. She rubbed her eyes and things gradually came into focus.

Piper's eyes were bright with excitement. "We're here," she declared. "Welcome to New York."


	5. A City of Dreams and Secrets

**Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is mine, unfortunately**

 **All of your support in my inbox when I wake up makes me so happy. Thanks so much! :)**

New York was everything she'd imagined: loud, colorful, and crowded. The streets were filled with people hurrying this way and that, with the honks of other drivers punctuating the background noise. There were shops and restaurants stuffed in every available space, with Christmas decorations adorning some of them. The streets were covered in gray slush, not like the bright white snow Annabeth had seen in Pennsylvania. She had her face pressed against the glass of Jason's windows like a little kid, staring at the bright lights and beautiful sights.

Piper and Jason were talking about something up front, but Annabeth barely paid them any attention, too absorbed by her surroundings. If she had, she would've noticed the odd, furtive glances Piper kept casting towards her and the way she would whisper certain words. Jason, on the other hand, wasn't acting quite as secretive and thus was shushed several times by Piper, who was trying to make sure Annabeth didn't hear certain parts of their conversation.

Annabeth turned towards them, face aglow, saying, "Isn't it so awesome here?" just as Jason said to Piper, "And then we'll meet up with Per-," before Piper gave him a hard look and smiled at Annabeth. He looked almost guilty to Annabeth and tried to cover it up with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, it's different from everywhere we've ever been," Piper quickly agreed to cover Jason. But Annabeth wasn't a dumb blonde; she looked at the two of them. Piper was smiling, completely at ease (but Piper usually was a pretty good actress) but Jason looked uncomfortable and kept nudging Piper. They were hiding something.

"What's wrong?" she asked suspiciously. "I know you're hiding something. Jason, you're a terrible liar."

Jason looked pleadingly at Piper, who sighed. "Okay, okay," she admitted reluctantly. "There's going to be a surprise, of sorts."

"What..kind of surprise?" Annabeth asked warily. Some of Piper's surprises could be pretty good, but some...didn't always turn out as expected. Like the time she forgot to tell Piper that her mom was coming home for her birthday, and Piper planned a huge surprise party that accidentally surprised her mom instead of her and got her grounded. (her mom absolutely despised surprises of any and every sort). She didn't want to be ambushed on the first day of winter break.

"Are you sure you don't want it to be a surprise? It's going to be really great," Piper coaxed.

Annabeth thought about it. "Is it going to jump out at me?" she asked. "Or scare me, or make me want to run away to Canada?"

Piper laughed. "It's not Donald Trump, silly. Oh fine, I'll tell you."

Annabeth arched an eyebrow. It wasn't like Piper to actually tell her. She thought that she'd have to slowly pry everything out of her, one clue at a time. But maybe it just wasn't a big surprise.

Jason also looked at Piper in surprise. "You're going to actually tell her?" he repeated.

Piper shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Okay, here it is. The reason that I told you to bring the dress is.."  
"Yes?" Annabeth said impatiently.

Piper took a deep breath. "It's because Jason and I were, you know, just thinking that it might be kinda nice if we went to this fancy Christmas party that one of his rich friends is holding, and it's going to be a really nice party, because apparently the friend is like almost a princess, if New York had a princess, and we were just thinking it might be nice to go, and I mean, you don't have to go, of course, that's why it was going to be a surprise, so you couldn't back out of it, but I reconsidered and I guess I wouldn't want to put you in that situation because I know you might hate that sort of thing and it would be awkward, but I really wanted to go and you really should too." She said it quickly, like she wanted to get it over with.

Annabeth stared. "All that whispering to get me to go to a party?" she repeated skeptically. "What kind of party?"

Piper exhaled, seemingly relieved that Annabeth hadn't flat out refused to go. "Um, just a Christmas party, apparently, with some high class stuff. There'll be really good food," she added, smiling hopefully.

Annabeth thought about it. Ordinarily, she would've said no, but she was tired of staying home (or in a hotel, probably). She was tired of feeling that emotionless, detached way, and she realized she hadn't gone anywhere for fun in a really long time. It had been even longer since an actual party. And Piper was looking at her pleadingly, with those puppy-dog eyes that Annabeth found hard to resist. She sighed, hoping she wouldn't regret this.

"Alright," she agreed, slightly reluctantly. "I'll go."

At first, Piper looked shocked that Annabeth wouldn't need more cajoling and bribing to have to go. But then her face lit up and she reached back to hug Annabeth, almost knocking into Jason, who was still trying to drive through the busy street.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, squeezing her. "I knew it!"

"Did you really?" Annabeth said, laughing.

"Not really," Piper admitted. "But see, you're still coming, that's all that matters."

Annabeth went back to staring outside, but she caught Piper smiling excitedly at her several times. _Why is she so excited?_ She wondered to herself. Probably just that Annabeth had actually agreed to go to a party, in New York. She started to get a little excited, too. Maybe it'd turn out actually fun. At the very least, if what Piper said was true, she'd get to enjoy some good food.

They finally made their way towards their hotel. Piper and Annabeth would be sharing a room, but apparently Jason was staying at a friend's house. Apparently he had a lot of friends in New York, most of which were from some kind of summer camp that they all used to go to. Annabeth had actually gone to the same summer camp once, when she was seven, but she didn't remember any of it, and Jason had gone several times, so he'd become pretty good friends with some of the other people who came back every year too.

The hotel was pretty nice, with two large beds and a huge bathtub in the bathroom.

The two beds was nice, since usually Piper kicked in her sleep, as both Annabeth and Thalia had found out during their many sleepovers in middle and high school. Annabeth started unpacking some of her stuff. Whenever she traveled, instead of dumping her bags on the hotel floor, like Piper did, she preferred to take some clothes out so that they wouldn't wrinkle, put her toothbrush on the sink, and set her extra pairs of shoes by the door. She also hung up her coat, hat, and scarves on the coat rack by the door, since it was winter and she was fairly sensitive to cold. Without a hat or scarf, she'd quickly freeze to death.

Piper and Annabeth stayed in the hotel for a while, watching TV and relaxing after a long car ride. At 6, they decided to go out and explore. Jason was at the friend's house, with his car, so they couldn't go anywhere unless they called him. But Piper said that Jason wanted to just have a guys' night, "So we'll have a girls' night."

They walked around the area around the hotel. There were tons of shops and lights and things to look at. After a while, they decided to go into a random store. Piper liked some of the shirts and dresses they had, although decided not to get them when she looked at the price tag. Annabeth wanted to save as much money as possible, so she didn't even bother looking at anything. It quickly got boring, and they both were hungry, so they walked back to the hotel, where they found ads for different restaurants in the area.

They ordered some Chinese takeout, which was pretty good, and stayed in their hotel room, watching a movie on TV. For some reason, Annabeth felt exhausted, so they went to bed early.

Annabeth was usually a restless sleeper. She had a hard time getting to sleep, and once she did, she had strange, occasionally prophetic dreams. Once, the night before her dad had introduced her to her soon to be stepmom, she'd had a nightmare about her mother turning into a spider with eyes red as blood and eight legs tipped with poison. Her stepmom sometimes acted just as malevolent to her as that spider had. Another time, she'd seen Ethan kissing Thalia in a dream. She'd thought it was weird, until she caught Ethan kissing some other girl in real life.

That night, when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of being at the beach. It was a nice dream. Piper was next to her, smiling and laughing. For some reason, her mother was there too, as a lifeguard. Then suddenly, Annabeth was running on the sand, and flew up into the sky, soaring above the beach. But then rain began to fall, rain that pounded her back accumulated on her back, feeling as heavy as if they were made of iron, forcing her to land. Back on the beach, Piper was screaming silently at her. Annabeth turned around, right before a huge black wave of water crashed over her head. She couldn't see or hear anything, but she could taste the heavy saltiness and rough waves crashing her body against the shore. She tried to breathe and only managed a few before she was pushed back under the cold water. All of a sudden, a hand grasped hers and pulled her up, out of the water that was threatening to drown her. The sky was bright blue again, and the sun was shining. She looked up to see who her rescuer was, but the dream shifted again before she could.

This time, she was flying again, above mountains. The air was cool and smelled like snow. She felt almost euphoric with the joy of how naturally flying came to her. But it didn't last long. There was a shout from somewhere beneath her, and without meaning to, she plummeted down, where a volcano was suddenly spewing ash and lava. Someone was beneath her, trapped, and somehow she was pulled to that person. The lava burned her skin and she choked on ash as she grabbed a stranger's hand and pulled the person out of lava. Then she was flying again, holding the other person beneath her. But a spider, like the one from her dreams before, appeared out of nowhere and snarled at her. Just as the spider was opening up its jaws, Annabeth felt the person below her shaking her and shouting her name.

She realized it was Piper, telling her to get up. It was already morning, and the sun was shining weakly through the hotel windows.

"Hey," Piper said when she realized Annabeth was awake. "Rise and shine. I promised Jason that we'd meet him for dinner, but I wanted to go sightseeing before then."

"What time is it?" Annabeth asked groggily, still disoriented and trying to recall her dream. Something about spider and flying..?

"It's already 11," Piper answered, laughing a little at the look on Annabeth's face. "Yeah, you slept for a long time. You must've been tired from taking all those early morning classes at school."

"Wow," Annabeth murmured. "I hardly ever sleep that late."

"Yeah, I know, which is why you need to start waking up and getting ready. I figured that you wouldn't want breakfast since we're having lunch in an hour, so I didn't get you anything. That okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Annabeth said absentmindedly. "Um, I'll get a shower, okay?"

"Go ahead," Piper said, nodding towards the bathroom. "I'll just be out here watching TV."

Annabeth showered and dressed slowly, still trying to recall the dream. She had a niggling worry that it was important somehow, but the details escaped her. She remembered being at the beach and nearly drowning, and something about lava, and the spider, but that was pretty much it. Piper pounded on the bathroom door, yelling at her to get ready more quickly, so she shook it off, forgetting about the dream and focusing on changing and brushing her teeth.

Piper chose the clothes she was wearing: a gray silk sweater that brought out her eyes (Piper's words, not hers) and blue jeans. The outfit actually wasn't that bad for Piper, who was always trying to get Annabeth to wear some strange outfit. Choosing outfits for Annabeth wasn't a new thing; Piper did it all the time in high school, trying to get her to wear more "cute" clothes. Annabeth didn't mind shopping (unlike Thalia who hated it), but she liked her own clothes and didn't find any problems with her own style (somehow, Piper did). So they compromised and Piper usually acted as her personal dresser. Annabeth had almost missed that when they went to separate colleges.

They had lunch at a cafe and walked around the city, then walked to the Empire State Building and rode the elevator to the very top. Piper and Annabeth lingered there for a while, both of them soaking in the beautiful view of the city. Up there, the noises were diminished and all they could see was New York City, laid out under their feet like a Christmas present and lit up like the tree. To Annabeth, being so high up reminded her a little of her dream. And just being there was amazing; she'd always wanted to see it for its architecture.

Then Jason picked them up after they walked back to their hotel, still amazed by the building. He said that they were meeting his friends at a restaurant, and kept glancing at Piper and Annabeth nervously. Several times, he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then closed it and focused on driving again. Annabeth was suspicious, but Piper kept chattering about this and that, distracting her.

Then they came to Times Square, and Annabeth forgot all of it as she stared, open mouthed, dazzled by the Christmas lights and decorations.

Jason glanced back at her and Piper, who had a similar expression, smiling. They parked and got out the car, the two girls still staring in wonder at the festiveness. Both of them, being small town girls, had never seen anything like it.

A voice sounded to Annabeth's left, oddly familiar. "Yeah, this is how we do it in New York."


	6. We Meet Again

**Wow, this one is longer than all of my other chapters, yay. I had so much fun writing this one, I hope you guys enjoy reading it! Thanks so, so much for all the reviews and encouragement...that's probably what helped me write this one so quickly ;)**

 **As usual, I don't own anything except the plot.**

Annabeth whirled around, heart racing just at the sound of his voice. Right in front of her, standing with that familiar crooked grin and dark windswept hair, stood Percy. It wasn't just a dream or hallucination. He was actually standing in front of her, after all these months. And from the way he was looking at her, he hadn't forgotten her either. Her heart gave a little sentimental sigh at that.

She took a deep breath, telling herself to focus. She wasn't sure if she wanted to punch him or kiss him….or what to say to Piper. Because when she stopped staring at Percy and turned around to face Piper, eyebrows raised and a question on her lips, she saw the little smile Piper had on her face and mentally groaned. Of course she'd known and planned for this exact moment.

"Piper," she said carefully. "Um, what's he doing here?"

"I live here," Percy said calmly behind her, although when she turned around, she could see a tiny bit of hurt in his eyes. "Didn't they tell you I was going to be here?"

Silence. If it were a movie, there would be crickets chirping in the background. Percy's face changed, going from a smirk to surprise. "They...didn't tell you," he said, not making it a question.

"No," Annabeth said, giving Piper a hard look, which she answered with a weak smile. "They didn't."

"Oh come on," Piper said. "I was going to tell you...eventually," she added meekly at Annabeth's skeptical expression.

"Whatever," Annabeth sighed. Piper was so going to get it later, but for right now, all she could think of was that this guy, whom she'd thought about for months and never thought she'd see again, was actually in front of her.

"So, um, can we start this over?" she asked awkwardly, trying for a smile. Behind her, Piper gave an audible sigh of relief.

Percy scratched his neck, blushing a little. "Of course," he said. "So, um, hi. How's life?"

Annabeth laughed internally. He was cute when he was dorky and nervous. "Pretty good. Glad to be alive, I guess."

That broke the ice a little. "Yeah, so how has it been, what did people say about almost dying and being saved by the most awesome guy at the carnival?"

Annabeth laughed aloud, and Piper and Jason started walking, presumably to the restaurant that they'd been about to go to. "No one mentioned an awesome guy, but my friends were mostly glad that I was alive."

"What about your family?" Percy asked, a little crease appearing on his forehead.

Annabeth shrugged. "Eh, I guess they were glad. Couldn't really tell," she added bitterly.

Percy seemed to sense that she didn't really want to talk about it and dropped it, by which time they were standing in front of the restaurant, not going inside. Annabeth noticed it and asked, "Why aren't we going inside? It's cold out here."

"We're waiting for some friends," Percy explained. "But if you're cold, we can go inside."

He motioned to Jason and Piper, who seemed to have forgotten the outside world again, wrapped up in each other. He opened the door chivalrously and they all went inside as Annabeth exhaled a sigh of relief.

"I hate the cold," she confessed to Percy. "That's why I'm always covered in coats and stuff."

"Yeah, I noticed," Percy replied drily. "The earmuffs and thick parka gave it away."

"What's wrong with my earmuffs?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Percy answered, shrugging. "Nobody wears them though. I think you might actually be the first person I've met who wears earmuffs."

"But it's so cold," Annabeth protested. "How do you not wear earmuffs?"

Percy laughed. "New Yorkers are made of tougher stuff," he said proudly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Pennsylvanians are plenty tough," she retorted.

Percy made a face. "New York is awesome though," he countered. "You were pretty awestruck out there, remember?"

As Annabeth laughed, she felt like she was floating. This easy camaraderie and playful arguing felt natural, like she'd known Percy forever. It didn't hurt that there were butterflies in her stomach from the playful look in those green eyes, and from whenever those eyes brightened when she said something clever.

Soon the other friends trickled in. It was a big group: three girls, Reyna, Hazel, and Rachel, all three of them pretty and apparently very familiar with Percy. Annabeth was surprised to feel the tiniest twinge of jealousy when Percy greeted them warmly. Then there were a few guys-Frank, Nico, Leo, and Grover. Frank and Hazel were dating, and they seemed like the sweetest couple ever. Both of them smiled when they were introduced to Annabeth and Piper, and Hazel made Annabeth feel totally welcome. Reyna seemed a little more aloof, although nice enough, and Rachel seemed really cool. Her bright red hair and splattered clothes seemed to indicate a wild spirit, which was quickly confirmed. Nico was also a little withdrawn, but Leo and Grover were welcoming. Leo made the whole group laugh with his jokes and his hyperness.

"It's great to finally meet Jason's girlfriend," Rachel commented. "We weren't entirely sure if you were real." Everyone in the group nodded. "I had my suspicions that Jason was making you up so that we'd stop teasing him for being a loner."

Piper laughed as Jason blushed. "Yes, I'm actually his girlfriend," she said. "I'm not sure why I haven't met any of you either." She sent a questioning glance to Jason, who just held his hands up helplessly. "I don't know, never got the chance."

Grover kept staring at Annabeth, and when they were introduced, he almost jumped. "Annabeth Chase?" he repeated, staring at her. "Did you ever go to Camp?"

"Uh, yeah," Annabeth answered. There was something familiar about him.

"I know you!" he said excitedly. "We were friends, do you remember? It was such a long time ago, but you were the only who didn't make fun of me. I remember that."

Annabeth smiled. "You know, I think I do," she said slowly, memories coming back to her. "Were you the one who pulled me across the border just in time to win, for capture the flag?"

"Yes, exactly," Grover exclaimed. "Yeah, that was me. Wow, you, um, you look great."

Annabeth blushed. "Thanks, um, you look...different."

Grover laughed. "Thanks, I was hoping that I didn't still look like my seven year old self."

Annabeth chuckled. "No, you don't. Wow, I can't believe it. This is such a coincidence."

The eleven of them were led to a table that Jason had reserved already, and the chatter started. Annabeth sat between Percy and Hazel, slightly nervous about socializing. But she didn't need to worry. Everyone was laughing and joking around, and she sat back and watched these friends. She'd never had anything like this-it was always just three, occasionally four when Luke joined them.

Percy noticed her withdrawn, and pulled her into the conversation.

"Hey guys," he said. "This is the girl I saved on the carnival ride."

"Is that true?" Rachel asked warily. "Or is it just another one of Percy's tall tales?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Are there a lot of those?"

Percy blushed as the whole group looked at each other, then laughed as one. "You have no idea," Leo said, shaking his head, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Like that one time he pretended-,"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Percy said hurriedly before Leo could finish the sentence. "No, I swear this one's true. Right, Annabeth?"

Annabeth tapped her lips. "I don't know, was it? Did you really save me from a roller coaster," she teased, smirking at him as he groaned.

"They've already started turning you against me, haven't they," he said with despairing air. "I'm innocent of anything and everything they tell you."

"No, but really," said Grover. "Did he actually save you from falling off a roller coaster that you would've died on?"

Annabeth laughed and gave in. "Yeah, he did," she admitted. "Without him, I would've died." She gave a little involuntary shudder at that, still affected even months after the event.

There were surprised faces and snickers all around at her statement, and Annabeth was pretty sure that she saw some money exchange hands. Leo in particular looked unhappy that it was true, probably because of the bills he had to hand over to Nico, who looked smug.

Percy noticed her shudder and stared at her, his green eyes asking silently if she was okay. She nodded slightly, and felt warm that he was so concerned about her. She didn't realize that they'd been gazing at each other for a while until a peal of laughter from the group, who'd already moved on, broke their stare. She dropped her eyes, feeling blood rise to her face.

When she looked back up, Percy was cracking up with all the others. But with a small smile, she noticed his face had turned pink, too.

The food was delicious, and Annabeth was surprised to see everyone passing around the food, sharing it all with each other instead of each person only eating their own dish. This group of mismatched people talked and laughed and acted like a real family. She found herself, wistfully wondering if she could ever be a part of that world.

After the dinner, they walked around, enjoying the view and decorations of Times Square during Christmas time. She found herself sandwiched between Percy and Grover. They were talking about camp, and the memories they'd had, and Annabeth and Grover tried to remember stuff from their year, like the capture the flag and delicious food.

"Wait a second," Percy said suddenly, after Annabeth mentioned that she still had her camp necklace with the one bead. "What bead was that?"

Annabeth screwed up her face, trying to recall what it looked like. She had left it in her room in the house she shared with her stepmom, so it'd been a while since she'd seen it.

"Um, I think it had a trident on it," she said slowly. "Yeah, that was the year there were all those hurricanes and stuff, remember Grover? And it was sad because we only went to the sea a couple times, but it was kinda fun in the cabins, everyone holding their breath for the lightning."

Grover nodded, eyes distant. "Yeah, I think..yeah, actually I remember that. That was fun, especially the rainy day crafts we did."

Annabeth giggled. "Yeah, my dad was annoyed when I came home with, like, five hundred different bottles sand, necklaces, and masks and all that stuff."

Percy had been quiet while they talked, but now he spoke up. "I have that bead."

Annabeth almost stopped walking. "No way."

"Yeah," Percy said slowly. He looked like he was concentrating hard. "Wait a second. Were you..?"

"Was I what?" asked Annabeth after he didn't finish his sentence.

"Okay, okay. Do you remember one of those few days that we were able to go to the beach, and I think you were playing in the sand, right? You made this huge sand castle that was bigger than everyone else's and it even had a moat and a door and stuff."

"I remember that!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I was so proud of that one."

Grover nodded. "Yeah, I remember Clarisse got mad at you because yours was bigger than hers."

Percy smiled. "Oh, I didn't remember that part. Aw, that's awesome."

Annabeth blushed. "Eh, whatever. Was Clarisse that mean bully?"

"That's her," Grover and Percy said together.

"Anyways," continued Percy. "I think I remember it getting washed away, and I told you that you could just build another one. Remember that? And then I think the three of us all built another sandcastle that was even bigger and the counselor was super impressed."

Annabeth looked surprised. "Wow, how do you remember that? Now that you say it, I think I vaguely remember it, but I didn't think of it before. Well, I guess you're not as much of a Seaweed Brain as I thought." Secretly, she thought the whole story was adorable and part of her wondered what it meant that Percy had remembered that.

Percy cracked a smile. "Well, I mentioned I was awesome, right?"

Grover smiled. "Wow, this is so weird. I wonder what our younger selves would think of us now, now that we've coincidentally met again."

Percy shrugged. "We'd be like, wow this is so awesome, and Annabeth's younger self would be calculating the statistical probability of this meeting."

Annabeth hit Percy's shoulder playfully. "Okay, I probably wouldn't go that far."

Grover fake coughed. "Probably."

The lights were dazzling and beautiful, making everything seem bright and happy in Annabeth's eyes. After more reminiscing and joking, Grover eventually drifted up to talk to Jason, whom he hadn't seen in a while, "unlike you, Percy. I have to see you everyday," accompanied with a great sigh.

Percy and Annabeth were quickly joined by Hazel and Frank. They talked about Percy saving her, where they were going to school. Hazel was pursuing a career in gemology, and Frank was still trying to decide, although he was thinking of being a veterinarian. They'd been best friends in camp, and had know each other for years (Annabeth noticed how couple-y they were, and sighed internally about that. For some reason, when she thought that, she saw Percy looking at her) .

Rachel joined them too. She was an urban artist. As they walked, she pointed out a few sculptures and works that she had actually worked on. At first, Annabeth envied her careless manner (Annabeth had always felt pressured to be careful and to care about others' thoughts), her artistic ability, and especially her closeness with Percy. But later, Piper whispered to her that Percy and Rachel had tried having a relationship. It hadn't worked out apparently, but they'd decided to stay good friends (and after hearing this, Annabeth wondered why her heart suddenly felt like it was soaring). But soon Annabeth was laughing and talking candidly with her, feeling like she'd just met a long lost friend.

The group walked around for a long time, so long that eventually Annabeth's feet began to hurt. But Annabeth didn't mind. Strangely, she felt like she could stay there forever, enjoying the company of these people who somehow were already starting to feel like family.

Annabeth had always been guarded. Her experiences with her parents had taught her at a young age that the heart was tricky and could easily be misguided if the owner wasn't careful enough. She'd felt broken and alone after her mother left, and swore to herself to try to never feel that way again. From then on, she'd listened to her brain, not her heart. The heart always misled her every time she let it anyways, from Luke to Ethan to many more. The only people she'd had was Piper, Thalia, and Chiron. But (she had no idea how), this motley assortment was already starting to worm its way into her heart. She could feel her defenses crumbling down as she joked and teased and talked with everyone in the group. It was a strange feeling, but Annabeth enjoyed it, even though a tiny voice warned it might not last.

Finally, everyone said goodbye. Some people still had a few more days of school before their winter break finally let out. But they made plans for most of them to meet again for lunch tomorrow. Jason drove Annabeth and Piper home, all three of them exhausted but happy.

"So, how'd you like my friends?" asked Jason.

Piper smiled. "They were great. I still can't believe you've never introduced us to them."

"Yeah, all of them were so nice," Annabeth added from the backseat.

Piper turned around, grinning mischievously. "I noticed that you enjoyed one person in particular."

"Who?" asked Annabeth innocently, though she'd already started blushing.

Luckily, the car stopped at the hotel before Piper could say any more. Jason dropped them off, Piper blowing him a good bye kiss before he drove away. As they got into the elevator and walked towards their room, Piper kept smiling at her.

"What?" Annabeth finally said as she opened the door to their room, unable to take Piper's smug expression any longer.

"Mmm..nothing," Piper sang, throwing herself onto the bed. "Just that you couldn't stop smiling when you were with a certain individual named Perrrrcyyyy." She drew out his unnecessarily long.

Annabeth laughed, cheeks already bright red. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said lightly, throwing a pillow at Piper.

Piper threw the pillow back. "Sure," she said cheekily. "Just remember who to thank on your wedding day." She got up and went to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth, leaving Annabeth alone with her thoughts.

They both got ready to go to bed, Annabeth still pink and Piper throwing out a few suggestive comments every now and then. As Piper turned off the light, Annabeth said quietly, "Piper, do you really think he liked me?"

Piper's laugh came through the darkness. "Trust me, honey," she said. "He couldn't take his eyes off of you. Now goodnight."

"Goodnight," Annabeth replied, snuggling happily into her blankets. "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

That night, Annabeth's sleep was filled with nothing but sweet dreams.


	7. New Friends and New Movies

**So so sorry I haven't posted recently! Hopefully this will make up for it, since it's much longer. Also, MINOR SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR in case anyone hasn't seen it yet. That's my second fav fandom, so I couldn't resist putting it in here. Thanks everyone!**

 **Disclaimer: as much as I wish, I don't own these characters**

The next day, Piper and Annabeth went to Percy's apartment, which was also where Jason was staying. It actually wasn't that far, and Annabeth had wanted to walk. It warmed her up a bit on an otherwise chilly day and the girls got to see a bit of the real New York, and join the swarm of people rushing between places. Annabeth found that just being in the midst of all that energy and vigor automatically made her walk a little faster, until they arrived at Percy's apartment, earlier than planned.

Piper went up and knocked. The door was opened by an older woman. She had clearly once been very beautiful-still was, in fact-and her face was open and welcoming. Annabeth guessed this must be Percy's mom. She could see the resemblance.

"You must be Percy's friends," the woman said, holding her hand out. "I'm Sally, Percy's mom. Come on in."

The two girls exchanged smiles and walked in. Inside, the apartment was somewhat small, but it had a warm and cozy feel, like a hug. It also smelled amazing-sweet and warm, like cookies.

A man with salt and pepper hair entered from another door. "Hi," he said. "I'm Paul, Percy's stepdad."

They shook hands, as Annabeth noticed he was walking oddly. She looked down, where a pair of solemn brown eyes met hers. It was a little girl, around four or so. She was holding onto Paul's pants; that's why he was walking oddly. Paul followed her gaze down to the little girl, and smiled, swinging her up to hold in his arms.

"This is Percy's little sister. Her name is Hope," Paul introduced.

Hope was the cutest toddler Annabeth had met (granted, she didn't know many toddlers, but still). She didn't look much like Percy, but her smile and eyes reminded Annabeth of him; genuine and open, with a hint of mischief peeking out at the corners. She sucked her thumb, gazing at Annabeth and Piper silently.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say she was cute, but just then Percy crashed into the living room where they were. Literally. He stumbled out, rubbing his eyes tiredly despite already being changed. Jason was right behind him, his glasses somewhat askew, although he looked more awake than Percy. Until Percy sniffed the air, after which he suddenly seemed to wake. "Are those cookies?" he asked excitedly.

Sally rolled her eyes. "Yes, they are, but they're for the guests," she chided gently. "Speaking of, you haven't greeted them."

That's when Percy finally noticed Annabeth and Piper on the couch, next to Hope. "Oh hey guys," he said, smiling widely. "I see you've met my whole family."

He walked over to the couch, scooping up Hope. She giggled madly as he picked her up and started tickling her. Annabeth couldn't help but think of how Percy was adorable with the way he interacted with his baby sister. Percy smiled at Annabeth and she blushed, hoping that her expressions hadn't given away her thoughts. That would've been _so_ embarrassing.

Piper and Jason were already talking together, planning the whole day. There were whispers and hurried glances involved, making Annabeth suspicious. She narrowed her eyes at Piper, who closed her mouth hurriedly, shooting her a weak smile. Annabeth was about to confront her, when Mrs. Jackson entered with a plate of cookies that smelled amazing. The strangest thing was...they were blue colored.

"Awesome!" Percy and Jason said at the same time as soon as they saw the cookies. They dove towards the plate after Percy's mom set them on the table, both trying to grab a cookie before the other. They accidentally banged heads in their fervor to get the blue cookies.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows when she saw them, but helped herself to a cookie as soon as the boys finally leaned back. Piper took one too, giggling at Jason. He was rubbing his head, where there was a red mark.

Annabeth bit into her cookie….and immediately decided that she must've died and gone to heaven. They were soft and chewy on the inside, and the chocolate chips melted onto her tongue. The outside was crunchier, but still fairly soft, and it was the perfect amount of sweetness. And since they'd just come out of the oven, they were warm and filled her with a kind of satisfying comfort.

"These are so good. Probably the best cookies I've ever had," she enthused, smiling at Percy's mom.

"Thank you," Sally said, looking pleased. "I try my best."

Piper had taken a bite, and also looked impressed. "These are awesome," she agreed. "But, um, why are they blue?"

Sally smiled at her son, who was eating the cookies with a blissful smile on his face. Annabeth couldn't resist a smile at his expression.

"Percy's favorite color is blue, so I made them one birthday as a surprise," she explained. "Ever since then, these are his favorites."

"Well, no wonder," Jason commented, mouth full of blue cookie. "I've eaten a lot of cookies, but I still haven't found any to top yours."

Sally smiled, blushing. Annabeth found herself admiring this woman. She was an incredible baker, seemed modest and sweet, had made her and Piper-two complete strangers-feel completely welcome and at ease, and she'd raised Percy, who was (though she'd wouldn't admit it out loud) a really great guy. She wondered what would have happened to her if her parents had been something like that.

Soon enough, Jason stood up. "Thanks so much, Mrs. Jackson," he said earnestly. "But we've gotta go if we don't want to be late."

"Late to where?" Annabeth asked, but no one seemed to hear her, instead gathering up coats and scarves and getting ready to leave. Piper seemed to be suspiciously trying to avoid her eyes. _Now what?_ Annabeth wondered internally, sighing a little. _Hadn't one surprise been enough for the holiday break?_

They left the apartment after thanking Sally and Paul profusely. Jason started up his car and everyone slid in, Piper up front and Annabeth and Percy in the back. They started talking. Again, Annabeth was surprised at how easily and naturally they talked, filled with more words than awkward silences, unlike some of the other guy she'd dated. One of them had barely talked to her at all, only smiling awkwardly or looking down at something on his phone. They discussed everything; life and death experiences (apparently Percy had had a couple), the best books and TV shows, school, etc. By the time Jason pulled up to a restaurant, they'd spent 15 minutes just arguing about the Avengers.

They entered an Italian restaurant. A few people were already sitting at the table Jason had reserved. Leo was there, sitting next to a really pretty girl with curly auburn hair. He introduced her as Calypso, his girlfriend of a few days. At first, it seemed strange to Annabeth that they'd be together-Leo was jumpy and hyper, whereas Calypso was pleasant and calm, except the times she'd get sassy when Leo annoyed her, which was often. But she noticed how they'd smile at each other when they weren't annoying each other, and how their banter actually wasn't quite as bitter for them as it seemed.

Frank and Hazel were there, along with Nico, with his boyfriend, Will. Will was the last person Annabeth would've thought that Nico would date, because they were complete opposites-Nico wore all black and he was pale, with a somewhat standoffish and quiet disposition, whereas Will wore a bright orange shirt, was tanned, and so open and friendly that he and Annabeth immediately hit it off. But opposites did attract, and it seemed to work for them. They were cute, the way that they'd argue together. Almost like she and Percy.

The food was good, and there was as much talk and laughter as the night before. Most of the people from last night hadn't been able to make it, because they had finals, but Piper told Annabeth that she'd definitely see them again.

"Yeah, we'll see them tomorrow," Percy echoed. "Tomorrow's Rachel's end of the semester party."

Annabeth turned to Piper. "Is that the party you mentioned? It's Rachel's?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. It'll be great."

Percy smiled. "Yeah, Rachel's parties are always awesome. Her dad is this super rich business guy who lets Rachel throw parties and do what she wants. So she always has high quality stuff, and you'll have to dress up for it. The food is awesome."

"It's all about the food, isn't it?" Annabeth teased. "That's all you care about?"

Percy shrugged. "Well, there's other stuff, but the food's definitely the highlight. Trust me, that's all you'll remember too when you see what I'm talking about."  
Soon everyone finished eating. They probably would've sat around, just talking, for a while, but the other guests were giving them the evil eye for being too loud. So Jason suggested going to a movie. They arrived at the movie theater and spent nearly a half an hour arguing and trying to decide which movie to watch. It came down to Finding Dory and Captain America:Civil War. Finally, they settled on Civil War, which, fortunately, had been Annabeth's choice (although Percy was disappointed. The movie wouldn't start for another ten minutes, so they occupied themselves by taking goofy pictures in the tiny photo booth in the lobby. They couldn't all fit in it (although they tried hard), so most of the pictures had various ears, arms, and eyes from someone peeking out the back. Leo photobombed the most, so that almost every picture had some part of him in it. Percy and Piper were in a competition to see who could make the weirdest faces, so both of them looked completely insane in the pictures (although Piper somehow also managed to make it look cute). Annabeth had tried to smile normally, but as soon as she took a good look at what Piper and Percy were doing, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

So her picture came out with Percy having his eyes crossed and tongue stuck out, Piper making a duck face and looking like she was about to kiss the camera lenses, and Annabeth laughing with her eyes shut tightly. Will, Hazel, and Frank were smiling normally, although Frank actually wasn't looking at the camera at all. Jason's glasses and blonde hair were the only parts of him that were visible, as Piper was sitting on his lap and covering him up. Calypso's eyes were smiling at the camera, somehow seemingly calm despite standing next to Leo, whose fingers and hair were blurry because he'd been jumping up and down (Leo had managed to give Frank bunny ears). Unfortunately for him, Frank was much taller, so he pretty much eclipsed Leo. And Nico was to the side, almost not in the picture at all, except for his sleeve, which Will had been holding (Will had been trying to get Nico into the picture, but mostly failed).

Annabeth tucked her picture in her wallet for safekeeping. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd looked so happy in a picture. She didn't take many pictures in general; most of her camera roll was filled with things she'd screenshotted and pictures of food, scenery, or her friends. She had maybe five selfies total (not counting the ones on Snapchat, because those disappeared and she'd never saved any to memories), and even in those ones, she thought she looked weird. She'd never been really photogenic, unlike Piper or Will, so she always had a sort of half grimace, half smile in all of the pictures. She couldn't think of a picture where she was just laughing and not thinking about the camera. And every time she looked at Percy and Piper's ridiculous expressions, she smiled involuntarily.

Finally, the movie was about to start. They bought mountains of popcorn for everyone to share, and Annabeth also got her own slushie. They entered the theater, automatically hushing, but they were the only ones there. So they chose the seats right in the middle. Frank and Hazel sat at the end. Nico and Will sat next to them, with Jason and Piper on the other side. Piper motioned for Annabeth to sit in the seat next to hers, so she did, and somehow (Annabeth knew there had to be some meddling going on), Percy ended up next to her. Calypso and Leo sat at the end, apparently because Leo often got up and moved around.

Annabeth couldn't deny the tiny thrill in her stomach when Percy was seated next to her. They even shared a bowl of popcorn, hands occasionally brushing shyly. As the movie started however, Annabeth was sucked into it. She'd been waiting for this for months. When the movie started, she almost hyperventilated from excitement. Especially when all of the new Avengers were working together and tracking down Rumlow. Black Widow was probably her favorite, but all of them were awesome. And Vision walking through the walls into Wanda's room made her squeal internally. Throughout the movie, she almost didn't realize when she grabbed Percy's hand during the tense moments. Especially when Natasha hugged Steve at Peggy's funeral...yeah, she was total Romanogers trash. And the fact that it was Peggy's funeral made her sad. Through the whole thing, Annabeth couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or cry. Except when Steve kissed Sharon. She knew she wanted to cry. Annabeth actually laughed aloud when Spiderman referenced Star Wars when he took Ant Man down. And at the very end, with Steve and Bucky fighting Tony…..that was pretty much when her heart gave out to the feels. At the end of the movie, she was exhausted mostly from the total awesomeness and from trying to not let everyone in the theater know about her intense feels. Percy was smiling at her when the credits began rolling on the screen and she relaxed slightly.

"That was really good," he said.

"Mmmm, yeah, that was so awesome," she managed to reply in a normal voice.

Piper, on the other side of her, squeezed her shoulder. Annabeth had sucked Piper into this world, and Annabeth knew that she was probably freaking out inside too. They'd seen Age of Ultron together, so they both knew how excited they could get.

People were starting to get up, but the after credits scene hadn't come yet, so Annabeth stayed in her seat, although most of the other members of their group were getting up and stretching.

"Aren't you guys coming?" asked Frank.

"No, we've gotta wait for the after credits scene," Piper told them.

It took awhile, and Annabeth was just starting to wonder if maybe there wasn't one, but then it came. Peter Parker, talking about Steve from Brooklyn...that made her scream internally. Luckily, it came out as a laugh. Finally, the movie was completely over.

They left the theater. Percy suggested going to a nearby Starbucks, where Annabeth ordered a hot chocolate to warm her up again. They sat down and Annabeth dissected it with Piper, Nico, and Will, who were also fans of MCU. They complained and laughed and argued about the best parts of the movie. It was actually really fun.

Finally, it started to get darker outside. Slowly, everyone eventually trickled out until it was just Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper. They got a small dinner and just had a quiet evening. Annabeth's heart still needed to recover from Civil War and from actually going to the movies with Percy (did he think it was a date? Because from her point of view, it was totally a date, even though there were all those people. Hadn't he noticed when she squeezed his hand? Why hadn't he said anything? Annabeth's mind was swirling with questions that she'd never voice aloud).

Jason dropped Percy off, then brought the girls to their hotel. He and Piper shared a sweet goodbye kiss before he drove back to Percy's apartment. Annabeth secretly wondered if Percy would ever do that to her...then mentally slapped herself. They'd known each other for two days, three if you counted that one day at the carnival. Yes, they got along mostly, and yes, Annabeth kinda had a thing from him, but it could just be one sided. The tiny voice in the back of her head sang, _Oooh, someone has it baaaad._ Annabeth told that voice to shut up. Unfortunately, it sounded suspiciously like Piper.. Oh wait, there was Piper.

"I noticed that you and Percy sat next to each other," Piper teased knowingly.

Annabeth's face felt hot. "Uh, so what?" she said weakly.

"You like him don't you?" Piper asked sweetly.

When Annabeth didn't say anything in flat out denial, she shrieked. It was a good thing they were in their own hotel room by then, because otherwise, she would've gotten plenty of dirty looks.

"You do like him, I can see it!" she exclaimed. "Oh my god, you guys should totally go out. Holy cow, I've gotta tell Jason."

"No, no," Annabeth said desperately. "I mean, only a little. Don't tell Jason, because he's going to tell Percy and….ugh."

She flopped onto the bed. "Piper," she said. "I think I like him, but I don't want to tell him. And he's such a..a Seaweed Brain that he'd never notice."

"Oh, sweetie," Piper said soothingly. "Tomorrow's Rachel's party, remember? And if he doesn't ask you out by then, I'm going to make sure he does."

"What if he doesn't like me at all? What if he acts that way with all the strange girls he meet?" Annabeth asked meekly.

Piper shook her head. "Anyone with a pair of eyes and half a brain can tell that you guys were totally meant to be. Trust me. He likes you. A lot."

Annabeth smiled. Those words echoed in her brain as she brushed her teeth, changed into pajamas, and curled up on her bed.

"Thanks, Piper," she said sleepily, as she lay in bed.

"For what?" Piper asked, yawning.

"Mmm..for forcing me to do stuff that you know will work out even if I protest bitterly."

"That's what friends are for. Now go to sleep and dream about your Seaweed Brain."

"Okay, okay." With that in mind, Annabeth quickly fell fast asleep.


	8. Rethinking Things

**Sorry for updating so sporadically. I really need to work on this more. So this chapter ended up completely different from what I was expecting. I don't even know what happened. But I still enjoyed this, even though it's not exactly what I was planning. I hope you guys do too, and aren't too disappointed. Fingers crossed.**

 **But thanks again, for all the encouragement and support. This one's much longer than the others, so hopefully that makes up for it.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own the plot, nothing else. The characters belong to the amazing Rick Riordan**

"Which one?" Piper asked, posing in front of the tall mirror, staring at Annabeth in the reflection. She twirled around, making the skirt billow out a bit.

"Hmm..," Annabeth murmered, gray eyes analyzing the dress critically, with as much concentration as if she were examing a life threatening wound. "Not your color," she finally declared. "Too bright."

Piper shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She went back into the dressing room, throwing the dress on top of the door like the ten other dresses. "You're so lucky you already have a dress," she called from the cubicle, voice slightly muffled. "Ow! The zipper's caught in my hair."

Annabeth sighed. "Need help?" she asked.

"Erm...yeah." Piper emerged wearing a pained expression. The dress's zipper had caught in her braid, forcing her to tilt her head to the side. Annabeth stifled a laugh.

Piper's eyes narrowed playfully. "Are you seriously laughing at me in this time of crisis? We only have another hour or so."

"Okay, okay," Annabeth said, stepping forward and slowly untangling Piper's hair and the zipper. "You know, this wouldn't have happened if you'd brought at least one of your dresses. Like how you forced me to."

Piper tried to put a hand on her hip, but her hair was in the way. "Ouch. Stop tugging to hard. And anyways, I only have two. One of them is a sundress. The other was one I wore to my aunt's wedding. Neither of them were suitable. I've already explained this to you a million times."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Why you only have two dresses, I'll never understand," she muttered. "It's not like you're the daughter of Tristan McLean and Aphrodite. A movie star and the world's most famous fashion designer." She finally released the last strand of hair from its battle with the zipper.

Piper had been famous as a baby; even now, every so often, when something big happened, the paparazzi would show up or she'd go to big A-list events. But her parents, who were loving but slightly clueless and sometimes absent (a little like Annabeth's own mother) had done everything they could to keep Piper out of the spotlight. Which was just as well, because Piper hated attention and avoided it like the plague. So Piper lived in an ordinary (although bigger than most) house far away from Hollywood and her parents' careers. Her parents tried not to talk about her much, and she wasn't allowed to be photographed at school. It had been harder to keep her away from the media when she was younger, and Annabeth had often played a part in disguising her from paparazzi. But in college, it was a little easier, especially since after so long, more people forgot about her.

She didn't see her parents all that often, but that was part of what had bonded her, Annabeth, and Thalia. Usually their sleepovers were at Piper's house, because there was so much room and she had the best gadgets. When Annabeth had first met Piper in elementary school, Piper had been a new girl, and it had been shocking that she was the daughter of two famous celebrities. But Piper really was down to earth and tried to never mention her parents, so it was sometimes easy to forget who she was.

Piper gave a pointed glance. "You do remember that big fight with my mom, right? The one in which I said I didn't care for fashion all that much, and she blew up? But after that, she didn't force me to wear dresses. Just tons of skirts."

That was another thing about Piper that surprised everyone. She really didn't care all that much about fashion. She had amazing taste in clothes, and always knew exactly what would look good, but that was probably just in her DNA. She herself wasn't interested in all the latest fashions and looks. It often made her mother confused and frustrated, and that was why she and Piper fought so much-Piper usually preferred jeans or shorts and regular clothes to the fancy dresses and newest trendy styles. Sometimes she dressed up for fun; in fact, when they were younger, Piper's favorite game had been fashion show (a game Thalia usually vetoed), but now she didn't care for it as much.

"So, why didn't you bring a skirt?" Annabeth said, looking up and down the dress. She shook her head. "Nah, this one doesn't look so great either. Too many ruffles."

Piper gave a great sigh. "When will we find a good enough dress?" she moaned. "And I didn't bring a skirt because skirts aren't fancy enough. From what I've heard from Jason, this is like a high class, fancy party. Not a casual get together. This is the last dress, okay? If it doesn't look okay, we need to go to Forever 21."

"Sure, sure, whatever," Annabeth said distractedly, staring at her phone. "But we'll have to hurry, okay? Percy says that he and Jason are going to pick us up at 5, okay? And since it's already 4:45…," Her sentence trailed off as she looked up from her phone and saw Piper.

"Yes," Annabeth said simply. "Okay, that looks awesome. We don't need to go to Forever 21. This is perfect."

"You think so?" asked Piper, smiling and twirling in the mirror. "Yeah, you're right about it looking good, for once. I like this one a lot."

The dress fit Piper in just the right way, and didn't sag or bunch up anywhere, unlike some of the other dresses. The bodice was a light blue color, but it darkened down to a deep purple at the hem, and the fabric was crusted with tiny glittering sequins, arranged tastefully over the whole dress so that it wasn't gaudy, but made her shine. The colors matched Piper's kaleidoscope eyes. And this dress in particular wasn't overly sparkly and glittery, unlike some of the other dresses she'd picked out. For someone who usually had such good taste, Piper had a strange weakness for glitter.

"Yeah, it looks perfect. Um, but you'll need a cardigan or something. Those straps aren't going to be warm enough," Annabeth warned.

"True," Piper agreed. "Would you mind looking for one for me? I need to stay in this dress so that I can make sure it matches." She smiled winningly and made puppy dog eyes.

Annabeth groaned. "I suppose. Uh, what color should I get it in?"

"Hmm." Piper posed in the mirror. "Black, probably. But get a cream colored one, too. Just in case."

Annabeth headed out of the dressing room and back into the main section of the store. Where could she find cardigans? She wandered aimlessly a bit, but soon realized that it was already almost time for the boys to pick them up. She sent a quick text to Percy, asking them to wait until 5:15 to give them more time. He replied quickly, saying that it was alright, adding that they hadn't even started getting ready. Annabeth rolled her eyes, smiling, as she typed a reply. He was _such_ a Seaweed Brain.

Eventually, she found a rack of cardigans. She stared at them, wondering which one Piper would want. She started rifling through, finding a long black one studded with small rhinestones like Piper's dress, and a cream one that would probably match. Annabeth figured that would be enough, and walked back to the dressing rooms, where she gave them to Piper, who was still smiling and dancing in the mirror.

"Thanks," Piper said, slipping the cream one on first. "What do you think?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know, it looks pretty nice to me."

Piper peered critically at herself in the mirror. "Yeah, but I already have something like this at home. But I guess it's okay. It's kinda big. Here, let me try on the other one."

She tugged the black cardigan on, and let out a squeal. "Ooh, this one's perfect. Thanks, Annabeth. I'm good now, we can go check out. Let me just get changed back into my clothes."

Piper changed, and they went to buy the dress and cardigan. For someone who usually didn't care about clothes, Piper was really excited about the dress. After they paid, the two of them caught a cab and went back to the hotel, where Piper changed back into her new dress, and Annabeth tried on the dress she had brought.

Annabeth was a little nervous about trying it on. It had been awhile, so it might not fit well anymore. And she'd only worn it once...what if it looked terrible on her. She shouldn't have left this to the last minute. If only she'd tried it on before. Then she could've gotten a new dress with Piper if it looked really bad. And what if it was too dressy. Annabeth rarely went to parties at all, much less one where she'd have to dress up. She had no idea what to expect. And that was really what was freaking her out.

She didn't really want to go to this party. She'd agreed before, but now that it was actually going to happen, she was internally going crazy. What had she been thinking? It had been such a long time since she'd gone to any parties; at college, she usually stayed in and studied or just read in her own dorm. She wasn't a social butterfly like Piper, who could somehow make everyone her best friend, she was Annabeth, the awkward girl who usually stood in the back of the room, eating stuff and reading by herself. She didn't even know these people that well. Yeah, she'd had a good time with them, but there would be even more people there, whom she didn't know. And the dress might not even look good, so she'd be stuck wearing it all evening, trying to pretend that she didn't see the snide looks and whispers from other, well-dressed, perfectly coiffed rich people who were bound to be at a party like Rachel's. That was what had happened at the last party she'd gone too-she worn the exactly wrong thing and people giggled and gossiped about how terrible she looked. She didn't want to go through that again.

And what if Percy saw someone else there, and decided to leave her for them? It wouldn't be the first time she'd been left alone at some social gathering by a guy whom she'd thought would be nice. Who was she even kidding? He probably just thought she was kinda cute and nice enough, but he'd dump her before they were even dating. That was probably why he hadn't mentioned the holding hand thing at all. Maybe he just wanted to let herself down gently...that would be nice, actually. To be told things were over gently.

If she were being completely honest with herself, that's probably what it was. The last time she ever saw Luke had been at an end of the year party. She'd been so happy then, finishing up senior year with her two best friends and her amazing boyfriend. It was silly, but she and Luke were joking around, and suddenly they had had a huge argument. She didn't even remember what it was about, but it ended with him walking out to blow off some steam.

At first, she had thought, _Well, maybe I should just let him go. He'll call me later, and we'll be fine._ But it didn't erase all the looks and smug smiles she got from the other people at that party (who didn't even know what was going on but thought they did). She didn't want to stay at that party, where she knew eventually, Kelli would come up to her and gloat over the fact that she was alone. Kelli would definitely want to tease her for that. And the fact that her boyfriend had left over an argument would only make her happier. She and Kelli had been enemies since forever.

She couldn't stand Drew Tanaka, one of Kelli's minions, coming up to her and saying, in a faux comforting voice, "Sweetie, we all knew it couldn't last. I mean, why would a guy like him go for a girl like you? But maybe, now you guys will find people...mm, better for each other. More similar, you know? It's for the best, really."

Annabeth had glared at her and decided to leave. Kelli wouldn't be far behind Drew; those cheerleaders like to stick together like a pack of wolves hunting for fresh meat. Drew didn't know anything about how well-suited they were. She just was jealous that Luke had asked Annabeth out and not her. But the tiny voice in the back of her head had popped up, recalling what happened with her mother and everything her stepmom always said, and reminding her that she and Luke had been arguing a lot lately. It was so hard to ignore how everyone seemed to point to one thing: that Annabeth wasn't good enough. That was partly why she always had to be the smartest, why she couldn't "just relax" the way Luke always told her to. Maybe if she'd been better, her mom wouldn't have left. Maybe if she'd been better, her stepmom would treat her better and act more like a mom. Maybe if she'd been better, Luke wouldn't keep arguing about everything with her.

She told herself that was silly. She was perfectly fine the way she was; she liked herself. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, because she was a good person, and they were just trying to make her feel bad about herself. But it wouldn't work. She _knew_ her self-worth, and that meant that no matter what happened, she was good enough. But sometimes she got tired of trying to defend herself against all these people trying to tear her down. Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if anything they were saying had some truth to it.

That was what had been running through her brain as she got out of that party as quickly as possible. She decided to find Luke, because he'd know how to comfort her. Piper was having so much fun at the party that she didn't want to disturb her. Even if she wasn't having a great time, that didn't mean her best friend had to leave, too. And Thalia was already on vacation, having the time of her life somewhere in rural Europe. She probably didn't have service where she was. Still, Annabeth tried calling her. Thalia always knew how to cheer her up. But as expected, it went straight to voicemail. So Annabeth set off to find Luke.

They lived in a small town, and Annabeth knew Luke pretty well. First she'd check his house, then the woods behind it. She texted him, asking where he was, but knew that he probably wouldn't answer. When Luke got mad, he usually left his phone somewhere before heading off, so he wouldn't be bothered by other people.

So she walked to his house. It was pretty close to the house where the party had been held. Luke had driven her there, so she wouldn't have had a way to get home, but Annabeth figured that she'd just walk to his house, they'd make up their argument, and he'd just drive her home from there. Looking back, it had been a _really_ bad idea to let Piper talk her into wearing those heels.

So she went to his house, not bothering to knock or ring the doorbell. Luke's mom was...interesting. She was medically diagnosed as insane, or something like it. She had meds, to keep everyone safe, but she didn't seem to care much about Luke's friends or anything. She usually just waved Annabeth in. And doorbells bothered her, so Annabeth didn't want to disturb her and make Luke even angrier, if he still was.

Annabeth still remembered the foreboding feeling that had grown in the pit of her stomach that day. She wasn't sure what had tipped her off, but something had seemed..off, from the minute she stepped inside his house. And then she'd gone upstairs to his room, like she did almost every day. His mom wasn't around, thank god. She didn't want to have to stop and talk to her when she really just wanted to see Luke.

Then she'd turned into the hallway down to his room. She hadn't even needed to step in there before she saw the thing that made her want to throw up. Luke had been in his room, just like she'd predicted. But he wasn't alone. Something she hadn't predicted. He was sitting on his bed, kissing some other girl. Someone with long, honey blonde hair that almost covered Luke's face. Annabeth didn't want to see it, but there it was. She covered her mouth, feeling like she must be in a movie or a dream, a horrible one. Because that couldn't be Luke, whom she'd grown up with and loved since forever. That couldn't be the guy that she told her secrets to, the person that was her _family_ , in the way that Piper and Thalia were. That couldn't be _Luke_ , kissing Kelli. On his bed. In his house, where she might see his mom. When Luke had dated other people, before Annabeth, he never brought them to his house where they might catch his mom in one of her crazy spells. Which meant that Kelli had been doing this for a while with Luke. And neither of them told her.

Her mind just wouldn't comprehend it. He'd listened to her rants about how Kelli had made her life miserable in freshman year (and even agreed!); he'd seen her crying silently in her room after Kelli's taunts and teases got to be too much. Piper and Thalia had had their own experiences with Kelli too, and they had all agreed that she was like a demon or vampire who sucked happiness out of everything.

But no wonder she hadn't seen Kelli come up to her at the party. No wonder Luke had been so belligerent and brooding lately. As much as she didn't want to believe what she was seeing, her mind took the pieces of a puzzle she hadn't even realized existed, and solved it. Luke had been cheating on her with Kelli this whole time.

She'd run away. Luke hadn't even seen her, he'd been so focused on Kelli. She'd run all the way home, the images pounding her brain relentlessly just as her feet were pounding on the pavement. Later, she'd laid on her bed. She hadn't even cried, still shocked. It just didn't make sense to her. Why would he kiss Kelli? And she knew it wasn't an accident, or she'd caught him unaware or anything like that. The way….well, she tried to block it out. She found that other than the numb shock, she was surprised that Kelli hadn't told her. Annabeth could imagine her glee at telling everyone publicly about how Annabeth's boyfriend didn't even like her, and cheated on her with Kelli.

Later on, she confronted Luke about it. The saddest thing was, it was over the phone. He started to avoid her, saying that he had other engagements. So she called him and told him that she knew about his cheating. He told her that he loved her before, but he just felt trapped in the relationship. As though it were her fault. He didn't even try to deny it at all, didn't do anything to save the last remnants. Years of being friends, partners in crime, vanished overnight. He left Annabeth to pick up the pieces of her life without him. After that, he disappeared. Thalia said once that he went to California, but Annabeth didn't really care. He'd been dead to her the moment she saw him with Kelli. She never did cry over him.

Speaking of Kelli. She'd been expecting for Kelli to gloat about how Luke had cheated on her, how she must obviously be better than Annabeth. Strangely, she was silent at first. They had each others' numbers from Annabeth's ( _very_ brief) stint on the cheerleading team, but Kelli didn't text her at the beginning of summer at all. And then, at the end of summer, when Annabeth had been about to leave for Penn, when she was ready to leave everything behind, she received a simple text from her. An apology.

She had been extremely surprised, and the apology made everything come rushing back. After a few days of wondering what was up, and if this was some kind of prank, she called Kelli.

Kelli had picked up immediately. Annabeth waited for her sugary sweet voice to give her some insincere, sarcastic sympathies and to begin their usual feud. But strangely, Kelli was quiet.

"Why did you apologize?" Annabeth finally demanded when the silence got to be too much. Maybe Kelli was just trying to draw out her torture. At first, when Kelli hadn't answered, Annabeth had decided to hang up. This was Kelli. She was probably just trying to mess with her and make her feel worse. Well, it was working, and Annabeth was just about to press the red hang up button, when Kelli spoke up.

"Wait," she said. Kelli's voice sounded strange over the phone….almost remorseful and definitely quiet. Annabeth was immediately confused and suspicious. Now her gloating was going to begin. She would've hung up right then and there, but Kelli started talking. And once she started, it seemed like she couldn't stop.

"I know I've been horrible to you," Kelli began. "And I want to apologize. Because you had everything that I always wanted and I was jealous, and you didn't even seem to care. So I hated you. And so when Luke asked if I could have coffee with him, to talk about some school stuff, at first I was really happy. Because you probably didn't even notice it, but I was obsessed with Luke. We knew each other a little when we were younger, so I always expected that once we got to high school, he and I would be together. You know, ruling the school. We were going to be perfect for each other." Here, Kelli had coughed a little, like she was waiting for Annabeth to say something, but Annabeth had stayed silent.

So Kelli kept going. "Well, we got to high school, and Luke even asked me out to a dance in freshman year." Annabeth remembered that, vaguely. She'd been furious with him. "And I was so happy, because here was my dream guy, asking me out. I couldn't wait. And then, we had one lame conversation, and he saw you there, and his face lit up. Like you were the one he'd asked out, not me. And you were smart, and pretty, and you had those two girls you were always hanging out with, and you guys seemed like you were really tight, when I never really had any friends. Not real friends. So there you were, being the smartest person in our class, when I couldn't catch a break at home for not having straight As. And you had friends, and just my luck, it turned out you and Luke were _childhood friends_ who'd known each other since kindergarten." Kelli spat out the words like they left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"So, I was jealous. And the thing that annoyed me the most was that you knew you being Luke made me jealous. So you showed it off every chance you got. You don't even know how angry I'd get."

That part made Annabeth slightly ashamed. Yes, she'd kinda realized that Kelli had liked Luke, too. So when Kelli was around, she made sure she knew who was Luke's girlfriend, and who wasn't. "Well, I," she started to say quietly, but Kelli didn't seem to hear her and kept going.

"So you were little Miss Perfect, who had _my_ dream life, and you couldn't seem to stop complaining about what you didn't have. You were even on the cheerleading squad for a little bit, which was my thing. Not yours. Which, yeah, it's kinda petty, but you had your smartness and valedictorian trophy and all that, but you still just had to go into my turf." Kelli's voice turned nasty and bitter, more like what Annabeth was used to. But this time, instead of feeling hurt and angry like usual, Annabeth had felt the tiniest beginnings of a new feeling: understanding, regret, and a little pity.

Kelli sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all worked up about it. I'm trying to make up for everything I regret, and here I am making a mess of it. Like usual." Kelli's words had carried a certain self-loathing tone that Annabeth recognized.

Annabeth sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, too," she said reluctantly. Kelli's words made her realize things she'd never thought of before. They'd spent so much time and energy hating each other that Annabeth had never really thought about how they might be similar. She'd definitely never wondered how Kelli was affected by it, or how Kelli might have cried in her bedroom, too. And Kelli hadn't had Piper or Thalia or Luke to comfort her and tell her that her words didn't matter. She cleared her throat. "No, you're doing fine. I, uh, appreciate you apologizing, actually. I never thought once of apologizing to you, even though I know I was kinda nasty to you too. So, I mean, that's really a nice thing for you to do. Not that you can't be a nice person," she rushed to say, trying to break out of the habit of offending and fighting with Kelli.

Kelli barked out a laugh. "No, I get that I was pretty bad to you."

"I didn't realize, I guess, why you'd be jealous of me," Annabeth continued. "You were the pretty, popular one. I was, you know, the nerdy one in the background. Who no one really cared about. At least, that's kinda what it felt like. And your, uh, friends, they disliked me a lot, and the whole thing with you...well, I guess I did take for granted all the good things I did have. Like Luke, and my grades. But clearly I didn't have Luke." Annabeth heard her own bitterness when she talked about Luke. It sounded just like Kelli's. "Funny how we have that in common."

"Not really," Kelli said, suddenly sounding tired. "But anyways, so Luke asked me to go to Starbucks with me one day after cheer practice. And I'd heard rumors that you guys had argued, so I figured that you'd broken up. And I'm sorry, but I was pretty much ecstatic then. So we went to Starbucks, and we talked. It was, um, really nice." Kelli sounded ashamed. "Luke has, like, this way of making you feel like you're the only one he needs in the world. You know?"

Annabeth almost couldn't bear hearing this from Kelli, but she managed. "Yeah," she whispered. "I know."

Kelli paused, coughed again. "Well, anyways," she resumed, "We talked a lot, and he kissed me at the end. And I was so eager to go to school with him as my boyfriend. I'd rub it in your perfect little face, and my old freshman dream would come true. And then he asked me to keep it a secret."

"Go on," Annabeth said. This was torture, but in a way it gave her the closure she'd needed but never gotten, because Luke had left. "I need to hear this."

"So we kept it a secret. He promised me that we'd become a real thing soon. He's really good at manipulation, you know? And I was perfectly fine with it, because I could just imagine your face when you found out. And being with Luke was everything I'd dreamed of, and more. He was an awesome kisser, and he really knew how to make me feel special. Unique. In a way that no one else had made me feel. So I agreed to keep it a secret. Until I was so far in that I didn't even realize he was actually cheating on you. And even then, I wouldn't have minded that. I would've still loved to see the horror and disbelief in your eyes when you found out. But you never did, and Luke never told you. Or anyone. So I started to get tired of always having to hide, but Luke would always manage to convince me."

"Then what happened?" Annabeth asked. She wondered how long it would've gone on if she hadn't seen them together.

"Then at the end of the year party, Luke asked me to come to his house. He'd never invited me over, and I figured that would be when we finally became a thing. I'd never get to flaunt it in your face and have the whole school know, but at least we'd be together for real. And then you saw us, there. And I saw you standing there. I don't think he did, but I saw you with your hands over your mouth, and that horror and disbelief."

"And?" prompted Annabeth, when Kelli stopped.

"Well, that made me realize what we were doing. That look in your eyes didn't make me feel happy, it actually made me feel terrible. Because I knew how much you loved Luke, how much you guys trusted each other. I had to see it everyday. And I could see all of that shattering as we were kissing. And suddenly, it didn't feel like I was kissing the guy of my dreams anymore. I was kissing another girl's boyfriend. I was, like, the other woman. Who wrecked a relationship. And that made me feel really, really bad."

Annabeth was honestly shocked. She hadn't known that Kelli had seen her. Had been expecting that kind of reaction even less. Kelli's voice had sounded sincere, not like she was setting Annabeth up for some big prank. She couldn't find her voice.

"Anyways," Kelli said, breaking up the silence. "Um, I felt really bad about that. And I had this friend who told me that before I start college, I've gotta resolve all of my anxiety and guilt over high school. So yeah."

"Thank you," Annabeth finally said breathlessly. She almost felt like crying, but she pulled herself together. "Thanks for telling me all that. I know it must've been really hard. I can't even imagine having the courage to apologize to you. And, you know, you didn't break up our relationship. It was really Luke. He screwed us both over. If he hadn't cheated on me with you, it might've been someone else."

Kelli snorted. "Nah, it was always going to be me." Her voice sounded relieved, and wasn't filled with spite or malice.

"This was really nice of you, though," Annabeth repeated. "I'm really sorry, too. I did flaunt stuff in your face. And you feeling bad about that...well, I guess we're both more human than we realized."

They talked for a little more about random stuff, and when Annabeth finally did hang up, she felt a million times lighter. Who would've thought that she and Kelli would've had a good conversation? She thought that maybe, in a different life, they might've become friends. It was nice to know that even her worst enemy was actually human, after all. And Annabeth felt better about her breakup with Luke. The talk hadn't totally mended the hurt, but it had helped. A lot. Annabeth still couldn't believe that Kelli had actually apologized. That was pretty much the only thing good that came out of her breakup-resolving that conflict.

All this ran through Annabeth's head as she picked up the dress. Well, the impossible had happened, so maybe it could happen again. And maybe her aversion to parties was because of Luke. But, she decided to herself, she had to stop letting Luke's betrayal shape her life and who she was. It didn't matter anymore. Luke was gone. He'd left Annabeth a long time ago, so it was time to stop letting him control her. If she wanted to enjoy herself at this party, she would, and the past wouldn't stop her.

With new conviction, she slipped the dress on and smiled into the mirror. It fit perfectly. Just like she'd hoped.


	9. Party Surprise

**So this chapter came up as code apparently. Not sure how that happened, but thanks to Commander Matrix for telling me. Hopefully now this'll be more enjoyable :) Thanks for the support. But if there are things that you think I should fix, please tell me with a bit more detail. I got a couple reviews simply telling me I should "fix it". If there are any problems, technical or with my writing, I'd appreciate more constructive criticisms. Thanks!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan, don't own any of these characters**

Piper rushed out of the hotel bathroom. "Come on, Annabeth," she said hurriedly. "I'm done, but you need to do your makeup and hair."

"Fine, fine," Annabeth said, walking away from the mirror reluctantly. "I'll only say this once, though: you were right about bringing this dress."

"Wasn't I?" Piper gave her a smug smile. "You look awesome. Percy won't be able to keep his mouth closed when he sees you. But here, brush your hair. We'll do a half-up, half-down. I'll braid the top. Oh, and you need to get some makeup on."

Annabeth went into the bathroom. Makeup supplies were strewn about, the mess a by product of Piper's amazing makeup skills. Piper already looked like a model, but the makeup she applied (although usually it wasn't that much) always somehow managed to make her look even better, like an actual goddess. That kind of came from being the daughter of Aphrodite, who was pretty much the closest thing to a beauty goddess that anyone could get.

Annabeth started brushing her hair. Piper whipped around, finishing up the last touches on herself and moving towards Annabeth with foundation.

"Must I?" asked Annabeth reluctantly, although she knew it was inevitable.

"You must," Piper replied firmly. "Now hold still."

The next few minutes were filled with Piper repeating that over and over again, as she attacked Annabeth with an assortment of weapons of torture and mass destruction...er, makeup tools. When finally every inch of Annabeth's face felt like it had been heaped with a mountain of goop, Piper finally stepped back with a satisfied sigh and turned her towards the mirror.

Her gray eyes, usually mistaken for a dull blue, popped now out of her face, in a way that made them look silvery, almost like moonlight. Usually she hated her curly hair for always being so messy and tangled and never cooperating, but Piper had done something to make them look full and pretty. Her skin actually wasn't covered in that much makeup, just enough to accentuate her cheekbones and cover up some blemishes.

"Am I good, or am I good?" asked Piper, smiling at the two of them in the mirror.

"Not bad," agreed Annabeth. "I guess those long hours of being your guinea pig in sixth grade did pay off."

"Exactly. Now we need to get downstairs. Jason and Percy are already waiting for us. Here, you can borrow this cardigan."

Annabeth took the offered cardigan and slipped it on, immediately grateful for its warmth. She and Piper cleaned up the makeup, then walked down the stairs to the lobby, where Percy and Jason were waiting.

Percy's mouth actually dropped when he saw her. "Annabeth?" he asked, voice sounding like he couldn't believe who was in front of him. "Wow, um," he cleared his throat and closed his mouth. "You look great. I mean, not that you don't usually, but, uh, wow. You look like a princess."

Annabeth smiled delightedly at his speechlessness. Maybe Piper had been right. It felt good to make his mouth drop open. "Thanks," she said. "Wow. Um, you clean up pretty nicely too."

Percy was wearing an actual suit. Annabeth loved his carefree regular clothes...but wow. He looked really good in a suit. Really good. She didn't realize that they were both staring at each other (...not dreamily, at all), until Piper and Jason walked past them, heading out the door.

"Coming, lovebirds?" asked Piper, somewhat smugly. "Or are you just going to stand there?"

Annabeth and Percy snapped out of it at the same time. "We're coming," Annabeth said quickly. Percy offered his arm. "What a gentleman," she teased, but she took it nonetheless.

They walked behind Piper and Jason to Jason's car. Jason was already wearing some of Piper's lipstick on his cheek, and Annabeth pointed it out to Percy. The two of them laughed at Piper and Jason behind their back.

"Sometimes I just call them Jiper," Annabeth admitted. "I mean, it's easier than just saying Piper and Jason all the time."

"True," Percy agreed. "Hey, maybe that's what I'll call Jason from now on. Hey, Jiper."

Jason groaned from the driver's seat. "Please don't. I get enough of that from Annabeth."

"What, you don't like that?" asked Annabeth, fake innocently. "You don't want to be seen with Piper?"

Piper hit him playfully. "So that's what it's about? ME?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "You know that's not what it's about," he said with a long suffering sigh. "I just don't like nicknames."

"Oh, you don't like nicknames?" Percy asked. "Nicknames like.."

Jason's face in the mirror was panicked. "Don't you dare say that," he warned.

"Blonde superman?" Percy finished. "Or, how about Jay-jay. I know there was another…Sparky, right?"

Piper raised her eyebrows. "Jay-jay? And why blonde superman?"

"Jay-jay was what this girl he dated for two days used to call him," Percy explained. "She was so annoying, man. I don't know how you stood her. But yeah, she used to call him Jay-jay, so we teased him for that. And since she always did this thing where she batted her eyelashes and called him her hero, we also called him blonde Superman. And I don't even remember why we call him Sparky. It's just a thing."

"Wow," Annabeth said. "Please never ever nickname me."

"Too late," Percy smirked. "You're Wise Girl already, but I'm sure I can find another, more suitable nickname…"

"No, no, no," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "I'm good, don't worry you Seaweed Brain."

Piper gave her a smug smile. Annabeth knew what she was thinking and gave her a hard glare and rolled her eyes.

"What about me?" Piper asked. "What nickname do I get?"

"I dunno," Percy said, shrugging. "Jason, what name does she get?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "I'm not nicknaming anyone. I've been scarred for life against nicknames. And I'm allergic to nicknames. If I get too near one, I start breaking out in hives."

"Hmm," Annabeth said. "Guess it's up to me. Well, it's lucky that you already have one, isn't it..?'

Piper's eyes widened in horror at her mistake. "Nope, nope, don't say it, I'm good," she said. "Really."

"I want to hear this," Jason said with a sly smile when Annabeth hesitated. "Tell us what her nickname is."

"Piperoni, Beauty Queen Extraordinaire," Annabeth said. There was a pause, and then Percy and Jason busted out laughing.

"Piperoni?" gasped Percy. "Like pepperoni?"

"Exactly," Annabeth said. "Piper used to love pepperoni, and when we were really little, like 9 or something, she announced that she wanted to be pepperoni. So she became Piperoni."

"I can't believe I've been dating a pepperoni this entire time," Jason said, still laughing.

Piper gave him and Annabeth a death glare. "Okay, that was such a long time ago," she said defensively. "I was 9. You can't expect me to really think these things through when I was that age."

Annabeth held up her hands, "Well, that's what I called you for three years. Sorry."

Piper's glare turned evil. "Well, what if I told them the nickname that annoys you the most?"

Percy's eyes shone. "Oh, yes, please."

"How about that…..Annie Bell?" Piper was laughing now as hard as Annabeth had been before.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That was Mr. D's nickname for me in 8th grade. Because he was too lazy to actually learn anyone's real names."

"We had a camp director like that, actually," Jason said, grinning at Percy in the rearview mirror. "What was that he called you again? Peter Johnson, right?"

Percy buried his face in his hands. "Don't get me started on that guy," he said, voice muffled by his hands. "He was the worst camp director ever."

Just in time, the car pulled up to a house. Annabeth hadn't noticed before, but they'd been slowly getting a little further from the part of the city with the crowded apartments all stacked up on each other like blocks, and closer to more buildings that were more like actually houses. It didn't look like they were in New York City anymore at all. One, in particular in this neighborhood, was huge.

"Which house is hers?" Annabeth asked, gazing at all of them. All the houses were fairly big and seemed more like mansions than actual houses.

"That one," Percy said, pointing to the biggest one she'd noticed before.

Piper sucked in a breath. "She lives there?"

Percy nodded appreciatively. "Yup. You see why we're all kinda dressed up?"

Annabeth laughed disbelievingly. "No way. Rachel? She's the one with the red hair, right? She's not some snooty rich girl. How does she live here?'

Jason shrugged. "I told you, her parents are really rich. Rachel pretty much lives here by herself, though, because her parents travel a ton. Plus, they don't get along very well. And she used to live in New York with the rest of us, but her parents bought this one, and she liked it better, so she moved here."

"Well, shall we?" Percy offered his arm again to Annabeth, who was still gazing at the house in amazement.

"We shall," Annabeth replied, linking her arm through hers, turning to smile at him.

Behind them, she heard Piper cough and say, not so discreetly, "Just get together already."

Annabeth blushed and pretended that she hadn't heard anything, and the two couples started up the walkway. As they walked, Annabeth gazed up at the house. Some parts of the house reminded Annabeth of Greek architecture, like the Ionic columns that held up an archway in front of the door. The snow, which had stopped falling but still covered the ground, made the whole house look like something out of a Christmas card.

"Uh, where's the doorbell?" Piper asked, looking at the door frame, where the small button would usually be found. Instead, Jason pointed up to the ceiling, where a single gold cord hung. He pulled on it, eliciting the deep tones of an actual bell.

Annabeth shook her things seemed like they were put there simply to remind people that this was the house of a very successful, very wealthy person. And it was definitely working; the windows on either side of the door were blue stained glass, the door itself was a deep, beautiful mahogany, and Annabeth would've been willing to bet that the doorknob was made of real gold.

The door swung open, Rachel's smiling, freckled face greeting them. "Hey guys! Come on in!"

"Hey Rachel," the small group chorused back. Annabeth stepped in, relieved to be out of the chilly air.

"Uh, this is my house," Rachel said brightly, but she was rolling her eyes as well. "I'm sorry about all this, my dad is a total show-off."

The house was immaculate; Annabeth almost felt guilty, walking on the smooth, completely scratch-and-dent free hardwood floor, which shone like it had been polished into glass. The room they'd entered seemed to be a greeting room or atrium of sorts, because there was a large closet filled with color-coded expensive looking coats, and several coat racks and hat racks lined up. Each handle for the coats was polished to a mirror shine and looked like the doorknob, making Annabeth wonder if these were also gold. There was also what seemed to be a shoe rack, like one that Annabeth had had in the house she'd shared with her stepmom and dad, but unlike that shoe rack, which had been scuffed and covered in dust and dirt from the bottoms of people's shoes, this white one, patterned with small rosettes, was as clean as if it had just been bought. There was a white bench, the top covered by fur, and rosettes trailing down the legs, just like the shoe rack (Annabeth wondered why there'd be a bench...this didn't seem to be a room that people would sit and talk in). Despite it seeming like a greeting room, Annabeth couldn't help but notice that it was bigger than her one of her stepbrothers' rooms.

"This way," Rachel called over her shoulder, leading them through a door. "Leave your coats and all that here. Come to the kitchen when you're done, I had Gwen make us some awesome stuff."

"Gwen?" Annabeth whispered to Percy, wondering if it was another friend that she hadn't met yet.

"Her cook," Percy whispered back, smiling at her surprised face. "Yeah, she has her own gourmet cook."

Annabeth slipped her heavy coat off but kept the cardigan on. Following the others, she walked through the door Rachel had gone through and into a spacious kitchen. The kitchen was all gleaming silver and sleek black appliances, most of which were probably the latest and best tech for food. The table was small, probably only meant to serve four at most. It was a bright white color, a stark contrast against the dark wood floor. As with the shoe rack, Annabeth saw no traces of stains or scuffs, despite the color. Her own table in her dorm, which had been bought at the beginning of last year's semester, was dark brown, and yet somehow was dirtier than this table. And there weren't any marks from markers, or stray stickers like the one at her old house. The top of the table was completely bare, save a vase with a bouquet of purple flowers.

A woman was cooking at the stove. Annabeth couldn't see what it was, but it smelled amazing. Already set out on the countertop were dozens of cake pans, cookies, and even a pie.

"Hi, I'm Gwen," greeted the woman who was cooking. She was middle-aged looking and seemed very motherly and warm. She clearly knew the others well, because without even turning around, she told them, "Remember, you can't eat yet. Those are for dessert, sweetie, as I've told you a thousand times."

Percy, who'd been reaching for a cookie slumped defeatedly on the marble counter. "Dang it! How do you do that?"

Jason patted him on the back. "Maybe one day, Perce. Nice try, though."

Gwen laughed. "You are far too predictable, Mr. Jackson."

"Let's go to the living room to get Percy away from those sweets," Rachel suggested. "Grover and Juniper and some other people are already here." She beckoned to the others, who followed her to another door. Annabeth had to practically drag Percy away from the assortment of desserts, who reluctantly shuffled away, casting longing glances behind them.

He perked up when they got into the living room. Again, it was huge, maybe about twice the size of Annabeth's whole dorm. There was a flatscreen silver TV and the dark blue sofa wrapped around in a U shape behind a wooden table was positioned directly in front of it The table was already stocked with a snack dish that had crackers and cheese, which Percy immediately made a beeline towards. There was something about how his mature suit and tie made him look one way, and how the look of childish relief and happiness on his face showed his true nature.

Grover and Juniper were already there, as Rachel had mentioned. There were a couple other people that Annabeth didn't recognize, although she did see Reyna. Jason quickly introduced them: Silena Beauregard with her boyfriend Charles Beckendorf. Annabeth noticed that everyone called him Beckendorf instead of his first name, except for Silena, who called him Charlie.

Silena was really sweet. She immediately started asking Annabeth where she'd gotten her dress, complimenting her on her makeup, etc. She and Piper began comparing styles and discussing the pros and cons of waterproof mascara, so Annabeth drifted off to eat some crackers. Percy was there, talking to Grover and his girlfriend, Juniper.

Juniper had come to that lunch, but Annabeth hadn't really talked to her. Juniper had bright green eyes that matched her simple green silk dress and seemed very quiet and down-to-earth. She was studying to be a botanist, which was fairly interesting, and somewhat fitting considering her name. Annabeth mentioned this, to which Juniper laughed and began spouting facts about junipers. Annabeth was fairly impressed, although Percy had a glazed look in his eyes when she was finished.

Soon more people poured into the living room, and the doorbell rang often. Will and Nico arrived soon after Annabeth had, along with Frank and Hazel. Leo and Calypso soon joined them, and a few more people came in that Annabeth didn't recognize. Percy whispered their names in her ear (she was not shivering at the intimacy at all. Annabeth did not do sentimental swoons just because he was whispering to her….even though it was really sweet of him to tell her all of their names).

There were two brothers, Connor and Travis Stoll. Travis was dating another girl, Katie. Even Clarisse of the sandcastles was there, and Hylla, Reyna's older sister. Dakota, who seemed a little drunk already. Rachel had gone a little crazy, inviting everyone possible, but Annabeth figured she had the space for it. And everyone was wearing nice clothes and had clearly dressed up quite a bit for this, assuaging Annabeth's fears that she'd be overdressed. Even Clarisse was wearing a skirt.

Then a girl walked in. Her black hair and electric blue eyes immediately caught Annabeth's eyes. Annabeth blinked twice, wondering if she was seeing things. It couldn't be...no way...why would she be here? Annabeth was confused; she didn't know these people, did she? How did she end up here? She was even wearing a skirt, too, which Annabeth had only seen her wear once or twice. Then she walked over to Rachel, greeting her. Her laugh carried across the room to where Annabeth was standing, and it confirmed it. Thalia was here.

 **Mini cliffy, kinda! In the above author's note, I hope I didn't sound too mean about all that. Just wanted to clear some things up.**


	10. Past Comes Back

**So sorry I haven't updated! I went camping, and there was marching band...but anyways I'm back! With the 10th chapter!**

 **Also, my chapters keep getting posted with weird text and numbers added in. If anyone knows how to fix that, please tell me! I don't know what to do except just repost**

Annabeth caught her breath, shocked. Thalia was Jason's sister...but Annabeth definitely hadn't expected to see her here.

"Is that Thalia?" she whispered to Percy.

Percy turned around, searching for the person she was pointing at. He cracked a smile. "Oh yeah, that is. Awesome. I'm gonna say hi."

"Uh, okay," Annabeth agreed, scrambling up from her seat. "I'll come with."

Now that Annabeth thought about it, it had been a really, really long time since she'd seen or talked to Thalia. Thalia was her best friend since forever, maybe even better than Piper, although the three of them were basically the Three Muskateers (even though there were technically four, whatever). She and Thalia had been friends first, ever since the day that Annabeth moved in. She smiled at the memory.

Annabeth had actually lived in San Francisco when she was really little. But then, when she was about six or seven, her parents had decided to move to Pennsylvania. That was back when Athena and Frederick Chase had still been happily married, before the divorce and the stepmom. So they'd moved across the country (Annabeth vaguely remembered a really long car trip, and crying bitterly at having to leave her friends and neighbors behind). And when they got to their new home, Annabeth had been sad and was scared of making new friends. But when they got out of the car, an older girl had come over. She wasn't much older than Annabeth, maybe a couple years, but she seemed very mature. When she saw Annabeth, she smiled and asked what her name was, despite Annabeth's angry, aggressive face. She handed Annabeth a toy knife and said they were going to play monsters and heroes. Luke had been with her, and the three of them quickly became close friends, even family. They'd been there for her when her parents split. Despite being older, they were still there for her school troubles. In middle school and high school, Luke had begun to drift away a bit (there was teasing about how his two best friends were girls), but Thalia always stayed by Annabeth's side. And when Piper had come into the picture (technically it was easier for Annabeth to be friends with her, since they were in the same grade and saw each other every day, and Thalia always had a million extracurricular activities, like those feminist groups and self-defense classes), but Thalia had accepted her. And now they were basically sisters. But, Annabeth realized now, they hadn't seen each other in a while. Thalia was busy globetrotting (she was part of a company that promoted feminism-perfect for Thalia-and Thalia, being part of their advertisement campaign, went all over to promote it), and Annabeth had been so busy with schoolwork. In fact, the last time she'd seen Thalia was when Thalia had come over and threw a mini party to celebrate the fact that she hadn't died at the carnival. So...the last time they'd seen each other had been the same last times she'd seen Percy. A fierce longing gripped her. She'd missed Thalia so much, and she hadn't even realized how much. She walked over with Percy to greet her.

Thalia saw Percy first. Her eyes lit up and she began to smirk. "Hey Perce," she said. Then she glanced behind him, and saw Annabeth. The smirk dropped. For a split second, she looked...worried? Unhappy? The strange expression flitted across her face and disappeared before Annabeth had time to register or decipher it. Then Thalia's whole face lit up and she smiled hugely. "Annabeth!" she said. "Oh my gosh, you look amazing."

Annabeth felt her lips stretch into a similar expression. "It's great to see you, Thals," she said, rushing forward and hugging her. "It's been way too long, you know."

"I know." Thalia sighed and released her. "Work has just been crazy and everything. We should totally get together now that we're both here. Speaking of, how are you here? I didn't know you knew all these people!"  
Annabeth laughed delightedly. Being with Thalia always made her feel more hopeful and reminded her of being little again. "I didn't, before this week," she explained. "Jason asked Piper to come along, so of course she dragged me, so...here I am. But everyone's been super nice and awesome."

"Wow," Thalia said. "I knew these people from camp, you know. You remember how I'd go away about a month each summer. Yeah, it was for camp."

"Ahem." Until then, Annabeth had almost forgotten about Percy. "Hello?"

"Hey, Percy," Thalia said, turning to him and smiling again. Annabeth pushed back the tiny jealous worry that wondered exactly how well they knew each other.

"Hey Thals," he answered back easily. "What brings you to this humble abode?"

Thalia snorted. "Humble, sure. It's not even your house."

Percy shrugged. "Whatever. The point is, how come you're finally here?"

Thalia sighed gustily. "I have been working, you know. I don't get to laze around like all you college students. I've been super busy. Oh, but I met these feminists from Amazon. They were super cool." Thalia started waxing poetic on the amazingness of feminism. Normally, Annabeth enjoyed hearing about empowerment and girlpower, but right now she was hungry. She glanced enviously back at Piper, who was eating cheese and crackers and talking to Hazel.

"Hey," she said as soon as Thalia paused. "Guess who else is here?"

"Who?" asked Thalia, momentarily distracted. She turned and saw who Annabeth was pointing at. "Oh my god, it's Piper. Uh, I'm going to go say hi. Okay?"

Annabeth smiled. "Yeah, go ahead." Once she left, Annabeth turned to Percy with a slightly desperate look in her eyes. "You know anywhere where we can get some food? Before 8?" Rachel had announced the official dinner time as 8 pm (and threatened against people eating earlier, giving several people the evil eye), but Annabeth had barely eaten lunch and only a small breakfast, before Piper announced that they needed to start dress shopping. Seeing all the food had made her hungry for more than just chips and crackers.

Percy smirked. "You asked the right guy."

They drifted across the room and ended up near the door. Annabeth stifled a laugh as Percy dramatically looked both ways and tiptoed out of the living room. Annabeth looked around as she followed Percy, expecting to see someone catch them, especially after Percy's ridiculous performance, but no one stopped them. Shrugging, she walked out and back into the kitchen, where Gwen was still preparing food.

Gwen looked up, and Annabeth braced herself for refusal. She got it immediately. As soon as Gwen's eyes met Percy's, she frowned with an amused twinkle. "You are nothing if not persistent," she told Percy firmly. "But my answer is still no. You did hear Rachel, didn't you?"  
"Yeah," Percy said, sighing heavily. "But for once, I'm not here to beg for food. I wanted to know if I could take Annabeth to the roof."

A surprised look crossed her face. Then something gleamed in her eyes…Annabeth wasn't sure what it was, but a look of understanding passed between the older woman and Percy. Something that made Percy's cheeks turn red. "Sure, go ahead. Make sure you be careful up there, young man."

Percy slung an arm around Annabeth. "I'm always careful, right?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you are."  
They walked out of the kitchen together, this time through a peach door that Annabeth hadn't noticed before. As soon as they were alone, Percy released her and looked around.

"Uh, what was that?" asked Annabeth. "I said I was hungry, not that I wanted to go sightseeing."

Percy shook his head, a slow smile creeping up his lips. "Patience, young grasshopper," he teased. "All will be understood soon."

"How soon is soon?" asked Annabeth, raising an eyebrow.

"So impatient," Percy muttered. "Alright, come through here," he directed them through a couple rooms, "And up here." They came to a spiral staircase that stretched high above them.

"Wow," Annabeth said, taking a moment to admire the architecture. "Rachel's house is awesome. Can I live here?"

Percy laughed. "Uh, ask her. I don't know. But come on, you said you were hungry, didn't you?"

That was all the motivation Annabeth needed to lift her skirt up and start climbing. The stairs were pretty flat and easy to walk on. So the first hundred weren't too bad. But then they kept climbing, and climbing stair after stair.

"How much longer?" panted Annabeth after the 200th stair (yes, she was counting).

"Just a little longer," promised Percy. "And then we'll take the elevator."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what? How high is this thing?"

Percy grinned. "600 stairs," he answered, smiling even wider at Annabeth's expression. "Yup. I don't know why, but Mr. Dare really wanted 600 stairs."

"But how is this not noticeable from the outside?" Annabeth wanted to know. "The house looked really tall from the outside, but not 600 stairs tall. More like maybe 200."

"You probably didn't notice it, but there's a turret in the back," Percy explained. "For whatever wacko reason, there are 600 stairs leading up to it. And an elevator, in case you get tired. But the view is awesome."

"Wait," Annabeth said. "What about food? I'm going to be even more hungry after all this climbing."

"You'll see," Percy answered. "Haven't you ever heard that good things come to those who wait?"

"Good things come to those who do the wave," muttered Annabeth with a small smile.

"Huh?" Percy cocked his head.

"Good things come who do the wave," Annabeth repeated. "Uh, Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare."

Percy shook his head. "You nerd," he teased affectionately. "Couldn't help but put in that book quote, could you?"

Annabeth's answering grin matched his. "Course not," she said, bumping his shoulder. "I wouldn't be a nerd if I didn't."

As they had climbed the stairs, they'd passed by a new floor every so often. Most of them looked similar to the kitchen and living room; spacious windows, hardwood floors, several expensive looking decorations and paintings. One floor had a giant canopy that Annabeth peeked into through the door, which Percy pointed out as Rachel's. But finally, there were fewer and fewer floors, until they reached a simple hallway. This one didn't have fancy colors and furniture, but instead led to an elevator. Annabeth felt relieved; she wasn't sure she was conditioned to walk up that many stairs, despite how flat they were.

They entered the elevator together. Inside, each wall was covered completely by mirrors. Annabeth usually tried not to be vain, but she couldn't help but . Piper had been right to make her bring this dress.

The elevator was fairly small, so Percy was kinda squished against her. Annabeth prayed to whatever gods there were that her cheeks weren't quite as red as they felt.

"I hate this music," Percy grumbled as they started to ascend slowly. "They really could use better music."

"Mmm," Annabeth replied. "Well, elevator music is always bad."

The trip up seemed to take forever, but finally the door dinged open and Annabeth nearly

fell out. Once she did, she groaned. In front of her was another small set of stairs that led up to a trapdoor.

"More stairs?" she asked Percy wearily, who was grinning and seemed completely unconcerned.

"Yup," he answered. "Come on, these are the last ones, I promise."

Annabeth sighed, but began to climb the stairs next to him. "Mr. Dare must be crazy," she muttered. "Who on earth would do something like this?"

Percy shrugged. "I've only met him a couple times. He's incredibly rich, so that may be part of it."

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs and Percy pulled open the trapdoor. "Let me go first," Percy said. "Just a sec."

His head disappeared, then the rest of him followed. Annabeth heard something outside that sounded like wind. "Come on up," Percy's voice shouted.

A hand reached down to pull her up, and Annabeth took it. Something about the whole situation seemed familiar, like deja vu, but Annabeth couldn't quite put her finger to it. Then she pulled herself up and gasped.

The view was incredible. The sun was just going down, casting radiant streaks of color all across the expanse of the sky. Annabeth craned her head up, admiring the drifting pink clouds and spotting the dim shape of the moon, far away.

"Percy," she breathed. "This is amazing."

She could almost feel Percy's smile. "Worth all those stairs?"

"Oh yes," she said immediately. "Worth every single one of them."

"Good," he said. His voice sounded rough, and Annabeth realized how close they were. She pretended to not notice and kept staring at the sky.

Then she looked down.

They were on a small platform, above the roof of Rachel's house. A thin rail encircled them, but that was it. She caught her breath as she realized that there was almost nothing keeping Annabeth from falling. The ground swayed beneath her. What if I fall like I almost did off that roller coaster? She thought. I'm going to die. From this height, I'd splatter on the cement. I was so close to dying before. I could die now. There isn't anything protecting me except that flimsy rail. I'm in more danger of falling now than I was before. The wind could knock me over. I'll never see Piper again, or Thalia, or Percy. I'll never do anything else that I wanted to do. Would anyone even care? Her thoughts came fast and furious, barrelling over themselves. She felt her heart racing and speeding up. Dimly, she was aware of Percy asking her if she was okay. But she was so dizzy. The ground was right there. She could fall at any time. Just like the roller coaster.

Rational thought tried to kick in. I didn't die on that roller coaster. The chance that I'm going to now is small. But the other thoughts kept coming, warning her that she needed to get off right now and stay on the ground forever, where she'd never be in danger of falling.

"Percy," Annabeth said, air catching in her throat. She realized that she was gasping and breathing heavily. A tiny corner of her brain wondered if this was hyperventilation. "I need to get off here."

A tiny crease appeared on his forehead. "Annabeth, are you okay?" he asked again.

"No," Annabeth replied, gulping even more. Her heart was racing and she could feel sweat on her forehead. "I need to get down," she repeated.

"Uh, okay," Percy said. He looked really worried now. "Uh, move over. I'm going to open the trapdoor, okay?"

Annabeth nodded, trying to focus on the sky. It was so beautiful still, even through her fear. You'll never see a sunset again if you fall, she was reminded.

Finally, Percy got the trapdoor open and helped her down. Without Percy, she might have fallen down the steps, but he guided her down, even though she was gripping his hand painfully.

"It's okay," he said soothingly once they were back on the ground. "You're safe. What happened out there?"

Cold sweat slid down her back as she thought about being up there again. "I-I don't know," she stammered. "I think it was a panic attack, or something." In the back of her mind, she realized she was still shaking, and Percy was holding her. His warm presence helped calm her down a bit. "I just kept thinking about the roller coaster, and how close I was to dying, and being that high reminded me of it, and I would've died if I fell," she managed to explain in a rush.

Percy's face had an expression on it that Annabeth couldn't figure out. "I'm so sorry," he said, both of them sinking down and sitting on the floor. "I hadn't even though of-I'm sorry, Annabeth."

"It's fine," she answered. "You didn't know. I didn't even know that I'd have that reaction. I guess-well, I haven't been anywhere high up since that day."

"I'm still sorry," he insisted. He looked guilty. "I shouldn't have brought you up there. It's my fault that you had that panic attack."

"No," Annabeth said firmly. Without meaning to, she reached out and swept a piece of hair away from his eyes. "You were the one who saved me that day on the roller coaster. I-I wouldn't even be here without you. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for."

Percy opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Annabeth set herself in her stubbornest face and he closed it. "Well," he said, sighing, "At the very least, I can give you food."

Annabeth had completely forgotten about that, and a tentative smile crept up her face. "Okay," she agreed. "I'm still hungry."

In the corner of that small room, against the elevator, was a small cooler that Annabeth hadn't even noticed. Next to it was a bag that looked like it was filled with Cheeto and Dorito bags.

"I used to come up here more often," Percy explained. "And I'd always get hungry, so I brought food up. I don't think Gwen knows about it."

Annabeth walked over, joining him. She chose a bag of Doritos and took a Sprite from the cooler. She already felt much calmer. Talking with Percy helped. And, she realized, she was even hungrier now.

She and Percy talked and laughed for a while in that small room, until she realized it was already time for dinner.

"Oh no," she said, looking down at her phone. "They must be wondering where we've been."

"We've gotta get down there," Percy agreed, standing up and stretching. "Just leave the chip bags and all that. I'll get it later."

"Alright," Annabeth said, also standing up and pressing the elevator door open. "Let's go down."

They rode down the elevator and began the long walk down the stairs, hurrying so as not to be late for dinner. The stairs made her nervous, but Percy squeezed her hand, anticipating her reaction, and she felt a little better. Despite the snacks, Annabeth was still kinda hungry.

"Oh no," she said suddenly, stopping one of the last stairs.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked impatiently. "The others are going to be worried."

Annabeth bit her lip. "This is extremely shallow of me," she confessed. "But my hair is probably a mess from being out there. Piper's going to notice."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You look fine. Here." He reached up and brushed her hair down. Annabeth blushed when his hand lingered there. Their faces were this close together. He's going to kiss me, she thought distractedly.

But just then, somebody shouted, "Annabeth!" Percy's eyes closed and his hand dropped. Annabeth swore she almost saw him sigh. I'm going to kill whoever that was, she thought, sighing a little herself.

It was Thalia. "Where have you been?" she asked. "We've been wondering where you two were."

"Uh, we were exploring," Annabeth said, hoping she'd take that explanation. "Um, is dinner ready?'

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I'll go tell the others," she said. Thankfully, Thalia wasn't the type to get excited and worked up. "And yeah, dinner's ready," she added. "Come down."

The three of them walked to the dining room. No one seemed particularly worried that they'd been gone for a while, and Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. Until Piper caught her eye and smiled knowingly at Percy and her. Annabeth frowned at her and hoped that her face wasn't red.

The food was excellent. There were several different dishes, and Annabeth marveled the fact that Gwen had been able to prepare all of them. Some dishes were familiar, like an amazing mac and cheese, and even pizza, but some of them seemed a little strange but still delicious. For the first time, Annabeth tried frog meat, and found it was just like everyone said: it tasted like chicken. There was a casserole, and risotto, and even eggplant parmesan. Apparently these were all of Rachel's favorite food. Well, she certainly had varied tastes. But it was all good.

Dessert was the best. There was a cake, cupcakes, cookies, pie, all the things she'd seen on the counter. But there was also pudding, and even creme brulee. The best part in Annabeth's opinion was the homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream with melted chocolate syrup.

Annabeth was feeling full and sleepy after all that food, and it looked like everyone else was feeling the same way. She could almost forget that she'd had a panic attack. Almost. Rachel announced that everyone was welcome to sleep over if they wanted, or to sleep in their own beds, but that the next day they had better be back for a surprise. Piper said that she had some things back at the hotel that she needed to do, so they went back to the hotel, although Annabeth thought it might be fun to have a sleepover. But she was really tired from all the day's events, and recognized that she'd actually sleep at the hotel, as opposed to a sleepover. So she hugged everyone goodbye and left with Piper, Jason and Percy.

After they arrived at the hotel and the girls said goodbye to Jason and Percy (it's possible that her eyes lingered on Percy longer than necessary), Piper pounced on her, trying to pry details of where exactly Annabeth and Percy had been.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Annabeth promised sleepily, heading up the elevator. It reminded her of Percy and of him bringing her up to the roof.

Once they entered their room, Annabeth collapsed on her bed. Piper pulled her up to change quickly out of the dress, but after that, she fell back on her bed and was out as soon as her head touched her pillow.


	11. The Ice Makes Everything Nice

**I know it's been such a long time since I've posted. I've been really busy with school and marching band starting and all that. Because it's been a while, I put in an extra treat and made it as long as I could. I hope it's good!**

 **Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rick Riordan, not me**

"So," a voice whispered next to Annabeth. "You and Percy, huh?"

Annabeth groaned, rolling over to the other side of the bed. "Too early for this," she moaned, shooing Piper lazily away with one hand. "Besides, nothing actually happened."

There was silence. Annabeth turned back to look at Piper. She had an extremely skeptical look on her face and her hands were on her hips. "Sure," she drawled. "You two just up and leave for a couple hours by yourselves and you want to tell me that nothing happened."

Annabeth smiled sheepishly. "Maybe?" she tried, but she knew Piper well enough to know that that wasn't going to cut it.

Piper gave her a look. "Details. Now."

Annabeth finally gave in. Piper would pester her for the rest of the vacation if she didn't, and even though she was pretty sure Piper wouldn't believe that nothing actually romantic had happened, she told her the whole story.

She faltered when she got to the part about the panic attack. Piper was her best friend though, and she had a right to know. And Annabeth had learned that it was usually better to tell someone than to keep it all in and pretend nothing was wrong. So she told about how she panicked, being so high up, but that she managed to get down. And Percy being there helped, especially considering he was the one who saved her last time.

Piper hugged her tightly when she finished. "I can't believe you never told me about this," she said, almost angrily.

Annabeth sighed. "I didn't know I'd have that reaction either," she reminded her. "It's not that I was concealing it or anything. I haven't thought about being up high since that day. Although now, I guess, thinking of heights kinda makes me want to throw up."

If possible, Piper hugged her even more tightly. "No more heights," she said firmly. "I'm not letting you go anywhere ever again."

Annabeth laughed, choking up a little. Piper was so sweet and amazing. Annabeth really was lucky to have her as a best friend. "I don't think that's possible, Pipes," she answered. "I do have a life to live, you know."

"Then you'll always have to stay with either me or Percy," Piper amended. "That doesn't seem to bad, does it?" There was a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

"We haven't actually kissed or anything," Annabeth admitted. "Well, there was one time I thought he might be about to, but then Thalia came in."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Oh Thalia," she muttered. "She spoiled it."

"Anyways," Annabeth said, changing the subject now that her story was finished. "What are we doing today?"

Piper shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I think we're going sightseeing or something. Is there anywhere you want to go in particular?"

"No," Annabeth said, rising up and pushing her covers away. "Well, are we eating soon?"

"Always so hungry," teased Piper. "Yeah, we can just go to the hotel dining room and have breakfast there."

They had their breakfast quickly and returned to their room. As soon as they stepped back in, Annabeth's phone rang. She checked the caller ID. It was Percy.

Her heart involuntarily leaped and she accepted the call, bringing it up to her ear. "Percy," she mouthed to Piper, who had a questioning look on her face. As soon as she said his name, Piper's expression turned crafty and she smirked. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Hey," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Hey," he replied. "Guess what today is."  
"Uh, I don't know," Annabeth answered. "Being on vacation always messes up my sense of time and stuff."

"Christmas Eve!" Percy exclaimed. "How could you forget that?"

Annabeth slapped her forehead. "Oh my god," she mumbled. "You're right. So, what are we doing?"

"Well, Christmas we always meet together. Usually Rachel's, since she has the most space. And Gwen cooks amazing Christmas dinners," he explained. "But Christmas Eve we go to 5th Avenue sometimes and walk around there, for the window buy presents for people. But I mean, since you and Piper are kinda new, you don't have to get anything for anyone," Percy rushed to add.

Annabeth smiled. "Well, okay. We'll see. Anything else?"

Percy was silent for a while. "Well, there's this one thing, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you."

Annabeth bit back a laugh. "Subtle, aren't you?" she teased. "Seaweed Brain, if you're not supposed to tell me, you can't tell me that you're not supposed to tell me."

"Well, but I'm not sure," Percy protested. "Hold on a sec."

Annabeth heard his voice saying something. She strained her ears, but couldn't figure out what he was saying. Another voice that sounded like Jason answered something in reply.

"Um." Percy's voice returned. "Yeah, okay. Do you know how to ice skate?"

Annabeth smiled. "Oh wow. Yeah, I love ice skating."

"Great. We're going to pick you up in about half an hour. Is that good?"

"Yeah, probably. What are we doing?"

"Uh, nothing," Percy replied hurriedly. "Top secret confidential plans. You don't have the clearance. We'll see you in a half and hour, okay?"

"Okay," Annabeth said slowly. "Bye, I guess."

"Bye." Percy hung up.

"What was it?" Piper pounced as soon as Annabeth dropped her phone on the bed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, trying to conceal a smile but failing. "He and Jason have something planned for today, but it's a surprise. I have a feeling that it involves ice skating. Oh, and later today we're going to 5th Avenue to pick out presents for people. Percy said we don't have to get stuff for people, since we're, you know, new to the group and all that, but I'd like to get some stuff."

"Cool," Piper said approvingly. "That sounds fun. When are they coming?"

"Half an hour, I think," Annabeth replied. "But I don't really need much to get ready."

The two of them watched TV for about a half an hour, flipping through boring channels. When Percy finally texted her that they were there, Annabeth leapt up from the bed.

"Finally," she muttered.

Piper gave her a knowing smile. "So eager to see him," she teased.

Annabeth blushed. "It was boring, just waiting for them," she defended. She and Piper got their coats on and hurried down to Jason's car.

"Hey," Annabeth breathed, cheeks already red from the few seconds spent in the cold. "So where's this top secret place we're going to?"

"If we told you, it wouldn't be top secret, would it?" Jason pointed out. "It's a surprise, which Percy already kind of gave away."

He mock glared at Percy, who shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd like what we're going to do, so I had to ask," he said.

"No," Annabeth agreed. "Where was it, again?"

"Can't fool me like that," he said, smiling. "You were trying to trick me into giving it away, weren't you?"

"Giving what away?" Annabeth asked innocently. "I would never do anything like that."

Piper laughed. "You're going to have to try a little harder, Annabeth," she said. "He's not quite as much of a 'Seaweed Brain' as you seem to think."

Annabeth pretended to pout. "Why don't you try?" she asked Piper. "You're really good at getting people to do what you want them to."

"Really?" Percy asked. "Like how?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't really know. Piper has this thing, where she just charms them into doing exactly what she wants, or telling her what she needs. It's almost a little freaky sometimes, like a magic power or something. One time, she almost talked a car dealer into giving her a BMW for free. I told her not to take it, though."

"Wow," Percy said. "Uh, remind me not to get on your bad side, okay? I don't want you to magic me into giving up all my secrets. Or turning into a zombie slave."

"Yeah, that would be a little bad," Annabeth agreed. "Just a little."

Piper opened her eyes wide. "You are getting sleepy," she said, pretending to hypnotize Percy. "You will do everything I say."

Percy pretended to fall asleep. "Oh, no," he said, his words getting more slurred. "I'm falling asleep. I will do everything Piper says."

Everyone laughed at his acting. "Percy, no," Annabeth cried in a fake high-pitched voice. "Don't turn into a zombie slave."

Percy popped back up. "I'm good, I'm good. Anything for you." The smile he sent her almost made her heart combust.

Annabeth could almost hear the smug smile in Piper's voice. "Aw, that's so cute," she muttered to Annabeth, who tried not to blush too much.

"We're here," Jason suddenly announced.

"Wow, already?" asked Annabeth, unbuckling and pushing her car door open. "Agh, it's so cold."

Outside of the car was a crowded mass of people. Annabeth fought her way to the other side of the car, where the others stood waiting. "Where is here?" she asked Percy, who bent down to hear her better.

"Rockefeller Center ice rink," he said, looking excited. "Ready for this?"

Annabeth felt her lips stretch out into a smile. She loved ice skating; she'd taken lessons for a few years, although she never got very good. She'd always wanted to come to Rockefeller. And it would be beautiful, especially because it was winter. "This is awesome," she said to Percy.

They moved forward, pushing through the crowd and eventually arriving at the skate rentals, where Annabeth, Piper, and Jason rented skates. Percy owned his own skates already, so he stood in line for the tickets. After getting everything together, the four of them finally headed out to the ice rink.

Crowds of people were already there. Part of Annabeth lamented that it was so busy. The ice would be rougher, and she wouldn't be able to go as fast. But most of her was soaking up the decorations and reveling in having skates on her feet again. She hadn't realized it, but like many other things in this trip already, she was being re-introduced to something she hadn't done in a long time. She wondered why she hadn't gone skating at her college; she was pretty sure that there was a rink nearby.

She stepped gingerly on the ice, hoping she'd remember how to skate. Her foot pushed forward, followed by the other, and before she knew it, she was gliding across the ice. She did a few crossovers, pleased that her body somehow still remembered the movements. Annabeth spun around on the ice, back towards Percy, who was staring at her with a surprised look on her face.

"Wow," he said, when she skated back to him. "You can really skate."

"Yeah," she answered. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Just, you don't really seem the type. Plus, my last few girlfri- I mean, most of my other friends don't know how to skate and they're from the East Coast. You're from California."

Annabeth smiled and twirled around. "Can't judge a book by its cover," she teased. She was pretty sure he was about to say girlfriends, which made her feel a little weird. She wasn't sure why, but she decided to pass over it.

Percy's eyes sparkled, reflecting off the shiny green decorations. "You're right, I guess," he agreed. "As usual."

Annabeth laughed. "Let's go," she urged. "Can you skate?"

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Can I skate?" he repeated. "Is that a challenge?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows to match his. "Hmm..maybe. _Can_ you?"

Percy's eyes turned mischievous. "You wanna see?"

With that, he took off, gliding over the slick ice. She had to admire his skill "Catch me if you can," he threw over his shoulder, disappearing into the crowd. Annabeth took off after him. It was probably a little dangerous, considering how many people there were, but she figured she could use that to her advantage.

She spotted him quickly, thanks to the bright red beanie he was wearing. He hadn't seen her, though, and appeared to be searching through the people for her. She tried to sneak up on him and tag him, but he saw her and skated away again. It was easier for her to follow him, since he was in front. She ducked behind a couple, who was skating leisurely, so he wouldn't catch sight of her. She zigzagged around a couple people, making sure to just far away enough that Percy wouldn't be able to see her.

Annabeth saw him slow down to search for her and used a few of the people in front of her as a shield. She managed to get around him, and skated towards him from behind.

"Gotcha," she breathed into his ear. He jerked forward, almost crashing into another guy, who gave him a dirty look.

"Geez, Annabeth," he said. "That scared me. How the heck did you come up behind me?"

Annabeth shrugged coyly. "I used my special powers," she answered, giggling a little at his expression and reaction.

He sighed. "That was over so fast," he muttered. "It's a good thing Jason didn't see that. He'd tease me mercilessly."

"Oh, don't be so sad about it," Annabeth told him. "My specialty is tag."

"Of course it is," Percy said, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to get you."

Annabeth shrieked as he lunged for her. She skated backwards hastily, nearly colliding into a wall. She tried to turn around and get away, but despite her own speed and ease on ice, Percy was also fast. He trapped her against the wall.

"My time was way better," he said. Annabeth felt her heartrate speed up as she noticed how close they were.

"That wasn't fair," she retorted, without any real heat. "I wasn't expecting that. Plus, I was so close to you already."

"Hmm…" Percy said. "I wouldn't argue with the person who has you trapped against a wall if I were you."

Annabeth stuck her chin out defiantly. "I could get out of this if I wanted," she protested.

"Don't," Percy said softly.

Annabeth blinked. "Uh, what?"

Then suddenly Percy's lips were on hers. If she hadn't been trapped against the wall, she might've slipped over the ice, because her legs spontaneously became jelly. His lips were soft and cold. She felt her eyes slip closed involuntarily, although her heart sped up even more.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and forgetting about the clamor of the outside world. Suddenly, it only seemed like her and Percy. They stayed there for a while; Annabeth didn't even know how long she and Percy just stood there holding onto each other. She was pretty sure she could've stayed there forever and not done anything else.

"Uh, excuse me," a voice came from behind Percy. "Would you mind moving for a second?"

She and Percy broke apart, blood rushing to her cheeks for what felt like the millionth time that day. The voice belonged to a little nine year old girl, who was gripping the wall. "Can I, uh, move past you guys?" the girl asked. She looked embarrassed to be talking to them. "I need to use the wall."

"Oh, um, of course," Percy said, pulling Annabeth by the hand away from the wall. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay," the girl said, pushing forward to where Annabeth had been kissing Percy just a moment before. "You guys are so cute."

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other. As soon as the girl had skated away, they both burst out laughing. "That poor girl," Annabeth said as she wiped away tears of mirth. "I hope she wasn't waiting for us long."

"I wouldn't have noticed if she had," Percy admitted, smiling at her in a way that was making her heart do cartwheels in her chest.

"Me neither," Annabeth agreed, squeezing his hand. "I don't want to get in trouble though, so can we just skate around for a while?"

The two of them coasted around the rink for a while, talking and laughing and holding hands. Every so often, Percy would lean down and they'd kiss until some grumpy person would come behind them and tell them to keep moving, which never failed to make both of them laugh.

Annabeth felt giddy and happy. This was like something out of a book or movie. She'd never thought that a guy would ever take her skating, or hold her hand tightly so she wouldn't slip (although she had to do that more often for Percy), or kiss her until her head spun in the cold winter air. She'd never imagined the way the lights and ornaments reflected off his eyes, or how ridiculous his hair looked when she stole his beanie and pushed her hands through his hair. By the end of their time on the ice, she was tired, her feet hurt a little, but she was feeling ridiculously happy.

A tiny thought pushed its way into her brain: this never would've happened with Luke. He didn't even know how to skate. But Percy was surprisingly good at skating; apparently he'd been on a hockey team when he was little, before he started swimming. It was a bad habit of hers to compare all her potential boyfriends and dates to Luke, but for once she was finding him to be better than Luke.

They met back up with Piper and Jason at the end. They'd seen each other a couple times on the ice but Annabeth knew Piper probably wanted alone time with Jason….and maybe she'd wanted alone time with Percy too.

Annabeth wasn't sure how Piper would react to them being together, but she got her answer quickly. Percy kissed her before he left to go to the bathroom, while she and Piper were sitting together, pulling their skates off. Annabeth couldn't help but linger in the kiss, even though she knew Piper was staring bug-eyed at them. Jason was off buying pizza. Even after they'd kissed so many times on the ice, she felt those same butterflies pop up when his lips touched hers.

After he left, Piper squealed, so loudly that a man in front of them turned around with a frown. "Oh, my god," she said. "What happened? Details. Spill everything. Like, how you guys got together. Was it the ice skating? I knew something was going to happen. Ice skating is so romantic, oh my god. You're so cute together. I knew it was a great idea to bring you on this trip. Oh, I'm so excited for you. Is he a good kisser? You guys are perfect together-."

Piper probably would've babbled on, she was so excited, but Annabeth cut her off with a laugh. "Yes, we're together I guess. It's...well, it's pretty awesome actually," she gave in, smiling at her best friend.

Piper shrieked and hugged her. "Do you know what this means? My ship is canon. It's real and beautiful. _And_ now we can double date!"

Annabeth couldn't seem to stop smiling, especially at Piper's enthusiasm. "He's much better than the other guys you tried to set me up with," she agreed simply, not wanting to let on exactly how Percy made her feel.

Jason came back, and Piper talked his ear off about how cute Annabeth and Percy were. When Percy came back, and Piper started squealing again, he rolled his eyes and kissed Annabeth again, the two of them laughing together. Jason was used to his girlfriend being a little too excited about Annabeth's love life (which actually was existent now), so he just kissed Piper to keep her from going overboard and to make sure she didn't begin making Annabeth regret telling her about the whole thing.

The four of them piled back into Jason's car, which Annabeth was beginning to get very comfortable in, especially since she and Percy spent most of the time either teasing each other or kissing, both of which she was totally fine with. Then they came to 5th Avenue to go shopping with the rest of the group. She and Percy didn't exactly advertise their new relationship, but when she and Piper decided to go off with Hazel and Rachel, the two of them kissed before leaving each other, just like Piper and Jason. Hazel and Rachel didn't seem all that surprised with it, although Annabeth did have to go through the whole story again.

The four of them window shopped for a while, finding things for their friends. Hazel found a fridge magnet for Leo that said, "I'm smoking hot," in red letters. Rachel got a death skull ring for Nico.

"We always call him emo, even though he denies it," Rachel explained to Annabeth. "So we have this thing where we get the most emo things, like black nail polish or skull things for him. Sometimes he even wears it, and we all crack up. Oh, and if you don't have anything else, get him McDonald's. That's another thing he loves."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "An emo McDonald lover? Seems strange," she said, laughing.

"Well, Nico is strange," Rachel agreed.

They kept looking around for a while. 5th Avenue was chock full of shops filled with various things. Annabeth and Jason had a thing where they each bought each other gag gifts. It had started a while ago, even before he and Piper started dating. She bought him a pair of round glasses that had little Christmas trees on them and were attached to a fake beard. When Piper saw it, she laughed and told Annabeth that she had to get them.

Annabeth continued shopping. It was almost a little strange to be with all these people. She was used to having mainly three or four people: Thalia and Piper, and then Jason and whoever she was dating. There were other friends, but no one that she was really close to and saw outside of school very much. And she only went shopping with Piper, because Thalia hated to shop. So it was nice, getting three opinions and reinforcements on what to buy instead of just one. She liked shopping with Hazel and Rachel. Both of them gushed over everything they loved, and they were nice enough not to say when they didn't like something. Annabeth was able to tell when they didn't mainly by how much they didn't rave over something.

She realized in one of the shops that this was probably one of the most fun times she'd had, going shopping with friends. And with Percy, and Christmas, and being in New York instead of doing nothing and being lonely in her dorm, this Christmas was one of the best ones so far, and it wasn't even here yet. None of her parents really did much for holidays, her dad being too busy with work and her mother usually being away. Her stepmother made Christmas magical for her own sons, but never gave Annabeth much more than a sweater and dinner. Sometimes she'd gone out with Piper and Thalia, but in recent years she'd stayed in her dorm, sometimes going out with a date or something, but never doing anything too extravagant, whereas Christmas in New York was nothing but extravagant.


	12. Christmas Miracles

**It's been a while since I posted a chapter...I've just had more time over the holidays to write this. Enjoy!**

Everyone came back to Percy's house for dinner, each of them holding their presents and trying to conceal them as much as possible, with Leo threatening anyone with death by fire if he caught them trying to find his presents. Apparently he had a thing for that.

The other members of Percy's family were out somewhere for the night, so they had the place to themselves, which was definitely lucky considering how many people there were, and the fact that the apartment was pretty tiny. Rachel's party the day before had been so fun with the brilliant decor and huge mansion, but Annabeth liked this small get-together at Percy's place, and not just because of Percy. She liked the coziness and ever-present aroma of fresh baked cookies.

"So," Percy started. "Um, I'm not exactly sure what we have for dinner. We can order something, or maybe cook something. My mom probably has tons of food, but I'm not much of a cook."

"That's fine," Piper said. "Let's cook something ourselves. My mom forced me to take this French cooking class over the summer, so I've totally got this."

"Uh, was that the one where you burned the kitchen with your attempt to make macaroons?" teased Annabeth, grinning as Piper swatted her on the arm.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied haughtily. "Although, I don't remember you teasing me when I gave you homemade escargot."

"I don't think we'll need you to make escargot tonight," Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"We do need food though," pointed out Rachel. "I'll help. I love cooking."

So Piper, Rachel, Frank, and Jason became in charge of the cooking, which basically meant they either bossed them around or kicked them out of the kitchen. Leo tried to cook a pancake, but it ended up catching on fire somehow when he tried to flip it in the air. After that, he was "banned from the kitchen for life," in the words of Percy.

The rest of the people who weren't being voluntold to help make dinner sat in Percy's living room, arguing over movies to watch and generally just having a good time. Annabeth and Percy argued over Elf or The Grinch Who Stole Christmas for nearly a half and hour straight. Then Percy was called to help in the kitchen, since he was the only one who knew where everything was kept.

"You and Percy, huh," teased Rachel gently when he left. "Can't say I wasn't expecting that."

"What do you mean?" asked Annabeth, blushing furiously. "Was it that obvious?"

"Kinda," agreed Leo, who joined in their conversation. "Should've done it two days earlier though."

"Uh, why?" Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow.

"I had a bet going," Leo answered, grinning mischievously. "Probably why Piper was so happy, too. I owe her 20 bucks now."

"You had a bet going on if they'd get together?" Hazel asked, rolling her eyes. "You are _so_ immature."

"It's not immature," Leo protested. "Piper and Rachel agreed too. Besides, it was _when_ they'd get together, not if."

"Oh my god," groaned Annabeth. "So it was that obvious?" She buried her face in her hands. When she looked back up, Hazel and Leo were cracking up.

"It was so obvious," Hazel agreed. "I've never seen Percy that smitten with a girl."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Who says smitten anymore? You're so old-fashioned."

The conversation turned to Hazel's strange mannerisms and the way she always seemed older than everyone else, despite actually being younger, which was lucky for Annabeth, because she wasn't sure that her face couldn't handle being that red and hot without spontaneously combusting.

"Dinner's ready," called Piper from the kitchen. There was a loud clang and a mad dash of people running to the dining room. It was only a few feet away from the living room, but for some reason they all needed to get there as quickly as possible. Annabeth soon saw why; there weren't _nearly_ enough seats and room at the table, and the unfortunate ones who were too slow had to sit on the floor while the others taunted them.

"First course," announced Rachel. "Hot chocolate!"

Annabeth couldn't help laughing at how Leo's face fell. "Come on," he complained. "What about real food?"

Calypso reached down to where he was sitting on the floor and punched his shoulder. "Patience," she scolded, like he was a dog. Leo sighed but didn't say anything else.

The hot chocolate was good, but Annabeth really wanted to eat. She realized that she hadn't really had anything substantial since breakfast that morning, so she was starving now. Luckily, Piper came in just then with the "second" course: waffles.

"Is this...dinner?" asked Juniper, looking down at her waffles. They looked great, but it definitely wasn't dinner.

"You'll see," Piper said, winking. "Dinner tonight is going to be interesting."

That was for sure. There was a motley assortment of dishes: green beans and bacon, chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes and gravy, popcorn, something that tasted like fried mushrooms, black beans, and Christmas cookies (that inexplicably were all blue and covered in red and green frosting).

Somehow, it was enough food for all the people there. And after dinner, they all crowded around the small TV in the living room to watch Home Alone, so unfortunately neither Annabeth nor Percy won their argument.

As Annabeth sat on the threadbare couch, surrounded by all these strange people who had been complete strangers only a few days before, she realized that this was one of the best holiday breaks she'd ever spent. She looked fondly over at Percy, who was watching the movie intently with his mouth slightly open, and shook her head, laughing to herself. Never in a thousand years would she have thought that a guy like him would be her type.

Usually she went for perfectionist, high achieving guys who were just as driven as she was. That didn't seem to be Percy, but somehow, Annabeth liked that. She could just hang out with him and not worry about conversation, or watch what she said to make sure she didn't offend him. She remembered Luke had always been somewhat defensive and even guarded, especially against new people. He was incredibly smart and motivated in some ways, seemingly almost completely the opposite of Percy, who acted like a goof and didn't seem to care all that much about his academics. But Percy was smarter than he looked, and seemed to enjoy life more. _That's what it was_ , Annabeth thought. Percy just seemed happier, and his enthusiasm for some things was infectious. At that moment, Percy seemed to realize Annabeth was staring at him, and looked over. He smiled gently, his eyes soft looking in the blue light of the TV. Annabeth smiled back, feeling sleepy and completely content in that moment.

After the movie was over, most of the people slowly trickled out and left the small apartment. Annabeth had enjoyed being with everyone, but she had started to feel a little claustrophobic with the tiny room so packed with people, something she wasn't used to, considering her own 'antisociality' as Piper put it.

She and Piper helped Percy clean up some, before leaving themselves to hail a taxi back to their hotel. Annabeth couldn't wait for the next day.

"Wake up!" Piper bounced on her bed excitedly. "Come on, come on. It's Christmas!"  
For once, Annabeth didn't complain about being woken up so early. She sat up and stretched, smiling at her best friend's enthusiasm. "Okay, okay," she said. "What are we doing today?"

"First, we're all exchanging presents at Grover's apartment, and having breakfast there. It's apparently some sort of tradition. Then, I don't know. Jason said they usually just go down to Times Square to see all the lights again, or maybe Central Park. I'm not sure about that. But presents!" Piper squealed, making Annabeth laugh. Piper rarely squealed, but it showed how excited she was.

Annabeth was feeling excited, too. This would be the first Christmas that she'd spend with a guy since Luke. "Can't wait," she said, grinning. "What's my present?"

Piper laughed. "You know I can't tell you that," she said. "You know what I can tell you, though?"

"What?" asked Annabeth.

"What to wear," Piper replied promptly. "And you should totally wear that ugly Christmas sweater that Thalia gave you. It's perfect."

"The one with reindeer? I'm not sure if I brought it…" Annabeth began rifling through her clothes.

"I brought it," Piper told her. "It may or may not have been because I stole it from you."

"You thief," Annabeth mock-gasped. "How could you?" She grabbed a pillow and smacked Piper lightly, who fell to the ground, pretending to be wounded. But she jumped up again, snatching another pillow and hitting Annabeth back. And of course, Annabeth _had_ to hit her back, to get her revenge, which started an all-out pillow war.

It finally ended with Piper's phone buzzing and completely freaking both of them out. Annabeth had just been about to raise her pillow, but luckily for Piper, the loud ringtone made her drop to the floor for no apparent reason. Piper laughed and stuck her tongue out at her as she picked it up.

Unfortunately, she accidentally hit the video chat, so Jason, who was the one who called, saw the two of them surrounded by a mess of pillows and staring aggressively at each other.

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked mildly.

"Pillow fight," Piper answered breathlessly, holding her pillow defensively against Annabeth.

Jason rolled his eyes, chuckling a little. "You guys are how old again?"

"Hey," Annabeth protested defensively, not taking her eyes off of Piper's weapon. "You're never too old to have a good pillow fight."

"Oh, okay," Jason said. "Then I guess I shouldn't tell you that we're about ready to take off to Grover's place for presents."

Piper glared at her phone. "You wouldn't leave me," she said dramatically. Annabeth took that opportunity to finally take her down.

"My phone!" Piper shrieked as she fell to the bed of pillows on the ground. "Annabeth!"

Annabeth picked up the phone. It was fine, not even a crack. "We'll be down soon," she promised Jason. "Just, uh, we have to get ready and get our presents together."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," he said, laughing at Piper's fake outraged expression. "We'll be down here."

The two girls called a truce and got ready, Annabeth going through Piper's suitcase to find her ugly Christmas sweater. She finally found it and put it on, smiling at the scent of Piper's perfume on it. The two of them trooped downstairs, where only Jason was waiting. Annabeth tried not to show her disappointment at that, but Piper smiled knowingly and asked where Percy was.

"He's already at Grover's," Jason explained. "We actually crashed there last night after you guys left."

"Why?" asked Annabeth, surprised.

"Just sort a tradition thing we have," Jason said vaguely. "Come on, let's go. They're probably mostly there already. Don't want to be late for the presents."

The three of them quickly arrived at Grover's apartment, where they found most of them already waiting for them, as Jason had predicted. They were all sitting at what looked like a kitchen table, but it had been pushed up against the door, so that Annabeth found herself squeezing through a tiny space as fast as possible to get herself out of the cold.

Percy's eyes lit up as soon as they came in. "You're here! Finally," he groaned. "They won't let me open any presents without everyone here."

Nico rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't be fair," he reminded him. "You'll be fine."

"Anyone else still coming?" asked Jason, shaking snow out of his hair. "Or are we the last ones?"

"Still waiting on Leo and Frank," Hazel answered, sipping a mug of hot chocolate. "But they texted that they were going to be a little late, and we should start breakfast without them."

"Awesome," Jason said, nodding. "So, Christmas pancakes?"

Will smiled. "What else?"

That's how Leo and Frank found them, laughing around Grover's kitchen table, eating multi-colored pancakes. Annabeth hadn't known what to expect when Calypso said Christmas pancakes, but it definitely wouldn't have been this. There were green pancakes, red pancakes, white pancakes, and (she shouldn't have been that surprised) blue pancakes. And then there were pancakes that had a combination of those colors, that looked like a Christmas tree had landed on and colored it. The food coloring didn't work out for a few of the pancakes, which looked like a brownish muddy mess of colors.

Annabeth poured some syrup on her green and red pancakes and sprayed a generous helping of whipped cream, making it look festive. She snapchatted a picture of the pancake to Thalia and put it on her story. Then she tried to take one of the stack of rainbow pancakes in the middle of the table, but Percy got in her way, making a goofy face on the side. Laughing, she took a few pictures and set one of them as the contact picture for Percy.

Finally, when everyone was done eating, they drifted over to Grover's living room. There was a beautiful evergreen tree there, a real one. Annabeth had never seen one inside a house; her parents always had a small, slightly scraggly plastic tree. The tree was festooned with decorations, some of them clearly homemade, some of them that looked like regular blue and white balls, with a string of rainbow lights draped across the branches. At the top was an angel , shining with a golden light.

"That's a beautiful tree," she commented.

Grover beamed. "Juniper always picks the best ones," he agreed.

Annabeth dumped her presents at the foot of the tree, along with everyone else. She grinned at Percy's jumping in anticipation.

"ADHD," he explained when he saw Piper and Annabeth's expressions. "I get hyper sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Annabeth heard Rachel snort behind him.

Jason cleared his throat. "Alright," he said. "I have the bowl, so who wants to choose?"

Seeing their confused looks, Jason explained to Piper and Annabeth, "We always have a bowl full of names, and whoever's name is chosen from the bowl is Santa's elf. They hand out the presents, so that we don't have any chaotic riots and knock down the tree or punch holes in the walls. Right, Leo?"

Leo grinned sheepishly, "Uh right, Jason. Wouldn't want any of that to happen."

Jason shook the bowl. "So, who wants to pick it?"

"I'll do it," offered Frank. "Here we go."

He shut his eyes and dramatically ran his fingers over each of the pieces of paper. Finally, after much complaining and orders to 'hurry up already,' he chose a slip of paper. Opening it up, he announced. "It's Leo."

There was a collective groan. "It's always Leo," muttered Rachel. "Has been for the past two years, at least."

Leo did look like a Latino Santa's elf, and he seemed to enjoy passing out presents. He scampered around, filling his arms with as many presents from the tree and tossing them out at people, shouting their names.

Annabeth caught a green wrapped present that looked suspiciously round and soft. When everyone had a gift in their hands, they all opened them at once. It was definitely from Jason, she knew at once. It was a pooping Santa candy dispenser.

She rolled her eyes. "Immature much?" she called to Jason, who was sitting with Piper on an opposite armchair.

"Well, I know you like candy…" he didn't finish, but just shrugged and laughed.

Jason had in his hands a Superman cape. "Will you never stop?" Jason asked Percy, jokingly weary. "You've already given me the suit and shorts."

"This way, you now have the complete outfit," Percy explained mischievously. "Then you can go as that for Halloween."

When everyone was done unwrapping their first presents, Leo passed out more. By the end of it, the floor was strewn with bows, wrapping paper, and ribbon, but they were all too lazy to get up and clean it up, even Grover.

Annabeth had a pretty good haul: the candy dispenser from Jason, a book from Grover, The Dictionary of Misinformation from Piper, a sweater from Rachel, Harry Potter merch from Hazel and Frank ("How did you know? I love Harry Potter," she'd shrieked. They'd given her a Ravenclaw scarf and socks, which she immediately put on), and assorted chocolates and candy from everyone else. From Percy, she had gotten a necklace.

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously, watching her reaction.

She looked down at the gray owl and smiled. "I love it," she replied. The owl twinkled up at her. It was small, but Annabeth liked it that way. She didn't wear jewelry often, but the necklace suited her. She asked Percy to clasp it on (and did _not_ shiver when his fingers brushed her neck at all).

"This was great," Annabeth declared, smiling around at everyone. "Thank you guys so, so much."

Everyone chorused 'you're welcomes,' and Annabeth felt a warm glow, sitting there in Grover's small apartment but surrounded by these friends. Maybe it was the way they'd immediately accepted her, the way she'd been included in their jokes and wisecracks and Christmas traditions without a trace of reservation. Maybe it was Percy, smiling down at her, looking adorable in those silly antlers. Maybe it was just that she'd craved this kind of warm companionship for so long, but had never really received it from anyone but Piper and Thalia. Maybe it was a Christmas miracle. But somehow, in the matter of just a few days, these strange but wonderful people become something that almost felt like family.


	13. This Beautiful Relationship

**I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since I updated this! But there's tons of fluff in this chapter to make up for it, and I've figured out a plot that this story is going to follow more (if you haven't noticed, I hadn't been able to figure out a plot after the whole saving Annabeth's life thing)**

Reality came crashing down hard the day after. She came in to their hotel room, glowing from a "date" with Percy. It had been more than just the two of them hanging out in Starbucks and her helping him with some of his math homework. He made her laugh with his long winding descriptions of why math was evil and invented purely to torture him, and she made him roll his eyes when she protested that math was beautiful and useful. They finally decided to agree to disagree, which was a milestone in their relationship (filled as it was with playful arguments and differing opinions-really, the two of them were so different in some ways, it was miracle they were together).

There had been one weird instance when he'd gotten a phone call from someone and had come back quieter and more solemn (and hadn't seemed to want to discuss it at all), but he'd quickly begun laughing and smiling again. She didn't want to pry, but her curiosity had been piqued. But other than that, it had been pretty much perfect.

She found Piper back at the hotel room, packing. Seeing the suitcases, she suddenly felt her mood deflate. For some reason, she'd been completely avoiding the thought that she was going back to school in Pennsylvania, and he was in New York. Eventually, she had to go back. But she hadn't really realized it until now. There was a sudden pang of sadness. It wasn't just Percy; she'd miss hanging out with all the lovable, silly doofuses she'd met and become so close to in the week or so they'd spent in New York.

Piper glanced up at her, and Annabeth saw her own wistfulness and disappointment reflected back in the kaleidoscope eyes. "I know," Piper said, reading her mind. "But we're leaving tomorrow."

Annabeth smiled sadly. "Back to school," she sighed, with a heavy groan, lying down on the bed. "Must we?"

"Why, Annabeth," teased Piper, her eyes brightening. "Are you actually unhappy at having to go back and learn stuff?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. It's just, this vacation was nice. Also, I don't like exams."

Piper sighed. "I know. I mean, you don't have to worry about anything. You'll be fine."

The touch of bitterness in Piper's voice made Annabeth sit up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Piper bent over her clothes. "Nothing, nothing," she said, smiling at Annabeth. There was a hint of worry in her eyes, though. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? It didn't seem like nothing."

"Nothing," Piper repeated with an edge in her voice. Then she sighed. "Just sad that break is over, I guess."

Annabeth sighed again and unzipped her bag. Before she knew it, she and Piper finished packing (she hadn't brought that much and there were only the presents that she had to squeeze in). When she looked outside, Annabeth realized that it was already dark. Tomorrow was the last day.

She woke up surprisingly early the next day. Annabeth laid awake, too groggy to get up until she rolled over and noticed the sunlight streaming in. Piper had stayed out late with Jason the night before, trying to squeeze out as much time alone as possible, and was lying passed out on the bed next to her. Percy had been busy with something else, but had promised to come by early the next morning to pick her up and go to breakfast. So Annabeth hurriedly dressed and checked her phone to see if he'd texted anything yet.

She smiled when she saw that he'd asked if she was ready and quickly typed a reply. 15 minutes later, she met him in the lobby, where he was holding her favorite chai latte.

They walked out together, where he opened the door to his beaten up Prius for her. They talked in the car about mundane things, and Annabeth tried to focus and savor as much as she could on staying in the present, while she still could. But it was hard; she kept imagining going back to school, which led her to wondering if she'd finished all her work, which led to a mental recount of the exams she had coming up…Annabeth shook her head to clear it.

They entered the IHOP, Annabeth trying to pretend that she was interested in the pancakes she saw. Normally she had a huge appetite in the morning (especially for sweet breakfast treats), but for some reason, she found she wasn't very hungry. _Anxiety about going back?_ she wondered to herself. It was a little strange. She attempted one more time to focus on the conversation at hand, and to get out of her head. She'd have plenty of time for that once she was back in her dorm. When she forced herself to focus, she noticed that Percy also seemed distracted. His fingers were tapping restlessly on the table and his green eyes were staring into the distance.

"You okay?" she asked awkwardly, nodding to his fingers.

Percy looked surprised for a second before he glanced down, noticing what he was doing. "Oh, yeah. I have ADHD, so I'm always doing something like that."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You have ADHD? Wow. That's a lot of people" She chuckled a little.

Percy's eyebrows scrunched adorably. "Why?"

"Leo has ADHD too, right? And...I have ADHD too," Annabeth explained. "Not something I usually like sharing, but yeah. It's pretty mild, but it….caused some problems for me when I was little."

Percy nodded vigorously. "Same. You wouldn't believe some of the trouble I've gotten into because I got distracted and stuff"

"Like what?" Annabeth asked. "Seaweed Brain getting in trouble for being distracted? No way."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Well, in elementary school I wasn't paying attention to the tour guide and accidentally hit this lever while we were on a marine aquarium tour, and well..let's just say my class got an unplanned swim with the dolphins."

Annabeth burst out laughing. She'd been expecting something strange, but it hadn't been that. "Oh wow. I can't...well, you know what? I can actually kinda see that happening. You must've been pretty distracted."

Percy shook his head, but his grin grew wider. "Okay, come on. You must've done some weird stuff too."

Annabeth shrugged. "I tried to run away from home a couple times," she said casually. "It mostly stopped once I met Thalia and Luke. The first time was because I'd just been wandering around. The second time was because I was trying to get away from my stepmother. That was one time Thalia found me."

Percy looked concerned. "Were you..okay?" he asked quietly. "Why were you running away?"

Annabeth tried to laugh off the suddenly darker mood. "Oh, I was just, you know, convinced I could face the world by myself. And my parents were annoying." She didn't want to tell Percy about her stepmother and parents. For one, despite how close they already were, Annabeth was a pretty private person and didn't go around telling her life story to anyone. For another, she didn't like pity. She was fine by herself, thanks very much.

Percy smiled. "You probably could hold the weight of the world all by yourself," he joked. "But you know," he said, hesitating for a moment with a sheepish smile. "You don't always have to. I'm...there to help you hold it up."

Annabeth couldn't help but smile. She pulled him closer for a kiss. "That's the sweetest thing a guy has said to me," she murmured.

Percy pulled back with a smirk. "Well then, none of the other guys were good enough for you."

"Are you saying you are?" Annabeth teased.

"I'm going to try to be," he answered earnestly. That was enough to elicit a sigh and another kiss.

They didn't end up ordering very much. Annabeth had a small pancake and Percy just had coffee. They left as soon as they could, deciding to just walk around the city. The snow was falling, covering Percy's dark hair with snowflakes. Annabeth realized in that moment that she'd be content to stay there forever.

The feeling scared her, as much as it felt right. Annabeth was used to change; comfortable, even, after her life had been upended so many times (moving, Luke, etc). She wasn't so used to stability, let alone acknowledging a desire to stay in one place. Sometimes she enjoyed her flexibility-it meant that no matter where, she could find some happiness, some sense of self. Annabeth had a feeling that if she stayed much longer, she'd find it impossible to pull away. And that sort of commitment and reliance definitely terrified her.

"You okay?" asked Percy, searching her face. "You look….sad."

Annabeth smiled, shaking off her fears. "I'm fine. Sorry, just thinking a lot."

Percy grinned. "What a surprise. Annabeth Chase, thinking?"

"Shut up," Annabeth laughed, hitting his shoulder. "You know, you pretend to be a Seaweed Brain, but you're actually smarter than you look."

Percy pretended to stroke an imaginary beard. "Well, of course, I am a genius, sank oo," he said in a fake accent, one Annabeth couldn't identify because it was _so_ bad. She was laughing, almost losing her breath. That's when she realized she so desperately did not want to live life without this crazy Seaweed Brain.

Annabeth dropped her smile. "There's something I want to talk to you about," she said seriously.

Percy dropped his act, too. He looked nervous. "What is it?"

"I just-well, you know I'm leaving tomorrow. And I wasn't sure where we're going, like…" Annabeth took a deep breath, bracing herself, "I wasn't sure if you still want to be together, because we'll be far away, and, well, I've enjoyed myself so much in the past few days but.."

Percy stopped her words with a finger, shushing her. "I know," he said, all the usual amusement gone in his eyes. Some other emotion was in those green eyes, something that Annabeth couldn't quite place. "I feel pretty much the same way. I mean, if you're willing, I'd do long distance."

Annabeth couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Are you sure? I mean, I'd be so far away. And I bet you could find another girl so quickly in this city." She looked down at her boots. "I'm a pretty intense person…if you want out, you'd better say it now."

Percy tilted her chin up to look at him. "I know," he said simply, and Annabeth almost felt like he was looking into her soul. "But I don't want another girl." He hesitated. "I want you." A dusky red blush spread across his cheeks, but Annabeth didn't notice it as she kissed him as hard as she could.

 _I never imagined I could find someone like you_ , thought Annabeth breathlessly. As they walked back to Annabeth's hotel room, laughing and talking, she watched him, memorizing his laugh and eyes and walk, hoping that this would last, hoping that nothing would ever come between this beautiful relationship.


	14. Til Death Do Us Part

**It's been such a long time since I updated, so I'm super sorry about that! Unfortunately, I got a little bit of writer's block, and since I've started another new story and I'm not going to have a ton of time soon, I've decided to end this story for now. I might delete this epilogue and keep the story going later, but for now I think I'll close it up. I know there are some loose ends and problems that I won't address in this chapter, but hopefully I'll revisit someday. Until then, enjoy!**

 _Epilogue_

"Annabeth!" cried Piper, braids swinging as she leapt out of the car. "Oh my god, it's so good to see you!" The two women hugged, Annabeth laughing as Piper squeezed the air out of her. "I have missed you so much. I can't believe you moved so far away from me." Piper mock-slapped Annabeth, pretending to be angry with her. "And you!" She jabbed a finger at Percy's chest. "You were the one who took her from me."

"It's great to see you, too, Pipes," Percy said, rolling his green eyes. "Even though it's only been a month, and you live about an hour away." He hugged her tightly, then clapped Jason on the back. "Hey, bro. How's it been?"

Jason shrugged, smiling. "Pretty good. Same old, same old."

He and Piper shared a grin. Annabeth wondered what that was about. Then she heard a whooshing sound, and suddenly Piper was being knocked over by a tiny ball with dark hair. "Auntie Pipah!" cried the little girl, who was nearly three. "Uncah Jason!"

"Here's my favorite little girl!" squealed Piper, immediately hugging back. "It's Aunt Piper, and I've got presents!"

"She looks more like you every day," noted Jason dryly, punching Percy in the shoulder. "She started swimming yet?"

"Oh, you bet," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "I feel like we go to the beach every day, pretty much. She loves it."

Piper stood back up with the girl on her hip. "I think it's time we spoil our little Ariel, shall we?"

Ariel's gray eyes widened. "Presents time!" She clapped her little hands.

"Piper, you shouldn't have," Annabeth said, taking her daughter back. "She's got enough toys from all your other visits to last her a lifetime and them some."

"Whatever you say, Annie. I think you don't spoil your daughter enough. That's what I'm here for." Piper tickled Ariel under the chin. "Isn't that right, sweetheart? Isn't your Auntie Piper your favorite person in the whole world?"

"Yeah," Ariel said, bouncing in Annabeth's arms. "Presents, presents!"

Piper pulled out a mermaid doll. "Look, Ariel! It's Ariel, the mermaid princess just like you!"

Ariel took the doll and studied it seriously. "Not like me," she decided, pointing to the red hair and tugging on her own. Then she reached over and tugged on Percy's hair, giggling madly when he tickled her in retaliation.

"Well, I also got her some Legos, too," Piper said, handing the box to Annabeth. "I should've known that any daughter of yours would prefer something like that. Oh, and some books. I wasn't sure if she's started reading yet?"

"She has," Annabeth replied, taking the gifts. "Thanks so much, Piper."

"No problem," Piper said, taking Ariel back. "Jason, let's go show Ariel our new car."

The four of them went back outside, Annabeth setting the gifts on the porch rocking chair. "Nice," Percy said, inspecting it. "What about the old one?"

Jason shook his head. "She broke down a couple weeks ago, so we decided to get a new one. You know, it was pretty old even before I got it. So it wasn't a huge surprise, but it's too bad. She was a good car."

"Definitely," agreed Annabeth. "She took us all the way to New York all those times, remember?"

"How could I forget?" asked Percy. "You were there just to see me, right?"

Annabeth smacked him on the shoulder affectionately. "And Hazel, and Frank, and Leo, and all of the others, too. The world doesn't revolve around you, Percy Jackson."

Percy shrugged, grinning. "But my world does revolve around you, Mrs. Annabeth Chase-Jackson." Annabeth melted into him at his words, and they kissed for a few moments while Piper and Jason groaned. "Ew, ew, ew," shrieked Ariel. "No kissing, no kissing."

"Why not?" asked Annabeth, smothering kisses on her daughter's stomach. Ariel squealed with laughter. "Dat tickles!" she shouted.

"Speaking of, is the rest of the group coming?" asked Jason.

"Some of them are, I think," Percy answered. "I know Leo and Calypso are, and I think Hazel and Frank might be, too. I'm not sure about Nico and Will or any of the others, though."

"We'll see in a few hours, I guess," Piper said, shrugging. "Anyways, so how did the remodeling go?"

"Oh, yeah. We need to show you the guest bedroom. It looks amazing." Annabeth and Piper went back in with Ariel, leaving Percy and Jason outside.

Later that night, with the same group of friends who had started out in New York, Jason and Piper made an announcement. Jason stood up, clinking on his glass. There were more people than ever, as the group had expanded since all those years ago, but he finally managed to get everyone's attention with Piper standing at his side.

"We have an announcement we'd like to make," Piper started. She placed a hand on her stomach, other hand linking with Jason's. "We're going to have a baby."

The room exploded in congratulations, nearly waking up Ariel, who had dozed next to her father. Everyone stood up to offer their good wishes to the happy couple, who were beaming with pride.

"How could you not tell me?" cried Annabeth, who was blinking back happy tears. Ever since she'd given birth to Ariel, she became more emotional more quickly.

"I really wanted to," Piper said quickly. "But I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone."

Soon the room quieted down again, punctuated every now and then with loud laughter and chatter. Annabeth sat back with a happy sigh, drinking in the people around her. She had never imagined being here, feeling so happy. She glanced down at her tiny daughter, who had woken up and was demanding food, which Percy had quickly provided. The two of them shared a smile over their daughter's head.

Once everyone left that night, back to their respective homes, Percy and Annabeth were alone again in their house, tucking Ariel into bed. "Tell me a story," she begged, large gray eyes making a puppy-dog face. "I don't wanna go to bed yet."

"What story do you want to hear?" asked Annabeth, scanning the bookshelves. "The one about the doggie?"

"Tell me the first time you saw each other," said Ariel. "Auntie Pipah said it was love at first sight."

Annabeth laughed. "No, it wasn't love at first sight. In fact, we argued a _lot_. Remember that? And then your daddy saved my life."

Percy smiled. "I just remember thinking she was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen before. I was luckiest man in the world that I saved your mommy, or else where would we be now?" Ariel smiled softly at his words, her eyes drifting closed

"My Prince Charming," teased Annabeth as she smoothed her daughter's hair.

"Til death do us part," agreed Percy, kissing the top of Ariel's head. "Goodnight."


End file.
